Power and Prophet
by Linda09
Summary: Clark Kent and Lois Lane; two people who no longer believe in a forever love, will soon discover that it does exist. The countdown to their defeat at its hands, begins when they meet again. M for sexual content, and occasional strong language - Clois
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Power and Prophet

**Author:** Linda09

**Disclaimer:** I am not in any way affiliated with DC Comics, Smallville or anything else, I do not own the characters and am making no profit on this. The only thing I do own is THIS story which is mine.

**Rating:** As the story has quite a bit of sexual content and the occasional strong language, I've chosen to classify it as **M**. However there are many occasions when it will be a T rating. If you are underage, and shouldn't be reading the adult stuff please do not do so. If you are of age but don't like sexual content, just by-pass it.

**Premise:** Now before you all groan in horror and dismay let me explain. I wanted to write a totally different story to Second Chance (SC) using **ALMOST** the same basic outline; so to put you in the picture:

Lois left Smallville after the first episode in S7 (before Lana returned)

Lana came back after her fake death in S7 and lived with Clark at the farm (as happened in the show)

Lois returns to Smallville 15 years later, meets Clark again and they get together (of course)

So the difference to the BASIC outline is:

Clark didn't marry Lana

And Lois returns to Smallville

This story is pretty adult in nature from the very beginning in the way Clark/Lois talk, think and interact. Romance and sweetness will come with time, but it's not going to happen in two minutes. There is sex and it's fairly full on; so you have been warned.

As I've finished writing SC (no I haven't finished posting it), I needed a new (somewhat simpler) story to write in conjunction with the other two I'm currently working on, and this one was screaming to be written. Anyway, here's the first chapter, let me know if you like it or not.

Linda

**

**1****st**** June**

When Clark Kent drove to the feed store to pick up supplies, then stopped in town to get a cup of coffee before heading to the market to buy some groceries, the last person he expected to see walking down Smallville's main street was Lois Lane.

Lois had been gone for so long, that he'd all but forgotten she'd ever lived there, so seeing her again had his eyebrows rising so high, they almost reached his hairline. Since she was carrying groceries he assumed that she wasn't just passing through, and he couldn't help wondering what had brought her back to a town that she'd shaken the dust from her shoes off, and never returned to until now.

His eyes automatically catalogued the changes in her, as his lips curved in approval and admiration. When she bent her head to scrounge for something in her purse, he ducked through the light traffic to cross the road, before casually walking in her direction until he was standing in her way, and she all but ran into him.

Finding her path blocked Lois looked up, frowned; blinked once, then again and a third time before she nodded slowly in recognition "Clark Kent, what are you doing here?"

"I live here, this is Smallville remember?" He replied politely, and felt his admiration slide at her next response.

"I remember, but the last I heard Lana magically came back from the dead, shacked up with you at the farm before the writing was even dry on her divorce certificate, and then pissed off....again. So I just figured that you'd still be industriously wasting your time the same way you did for years before I left; by chasing Lana around the globe, begging her to take you back." She returned cordially.

"Very funny." He retorted sarcastically.

"I wasn't trying to be funny." She countered seriously.

"Well Lana's old news, I kicked her to the curb a long time ago."

"You did!" Lois let out a small scoffing laugh "Right sure."

He shrugged, feigning unconcern whether she believed him or not, but felt his ire rise nonetheless "So what are you doing in Smallville?"

"Holidaying."

"In Smallville?" He asked dubiously.

"Yep, some people head to the mountains, others to the beach, I felt like coming to corn town USA." She returned blandly.

He nodded slowly "So how have you been Lois?"

"Just fine; you?"

"Just fine."

"Ok then, well I think that uses up all our conversation; see you Clark." She smiled amiably, stepped around him and began to walk away, but swung back at his call "Yes."

"You didn't say how long you'll be in town for."

"No I didn't." She replied casually before turning around. She could feel his eyes boring into her back but kept walking.

Clark watched Lois walk away, and wondered why he cared that he didn't know how long she'd be in Smallville. He hadn't seen her in 15 years, but she'd changed a hell of a lot. She was definitely a head turner, her face would be enough to catch men's attention, her body would have them craning their necks until they were sore; but when she opened her mouth, men would be turned right off again. Obviously he'd forgotten her existence through choice, and he'd definitely made the right call.

Lois used to be blunt to the point of rudeness, but she'd never been antagonistic without just cause. When he was sarcastic or rude to her back in the day, he'd felt the biting edge of her tongue in return, but this time she'd given him a good kick first without provocation. He didn't remember doing anything before she left that would cause her to be uncivil for no reason, so had to conclude that just as she'd become dangerously attractive with age, her tongue had likewise become dangerously sharp as well.

Her patent disbelief at his declaration that he'd dumped Lana shouldn't bother him but it did. It was damned embarrassing remembering what a fool he'd made of himself years ago. It was even more humiliating to run into someone who didn't only remember it, but didn't hesitate to remind him of it. His friends had never booted him about it, it was so long ago that no one else even mentioned it, but Lois just had to be the exception. He should have given her a wide berth when he first saw her, he should have known that she wouldn't just let his youthful idiocy slide. What man wanted to be reminded that he'd made a public spectacle of himself to all and sundry on multiple occasions over a girl; worse the same girl for years. Worse again, a girl that had to climb up, to even enter the category of 'so not worth it.' He'd put that stuff so far behind him that he'd forgotten about it, and yet within one minute of meeting Lois, she'd managed to make him feel like a complete dick all over again.

Well where's there's life there's hope; so hopefully this would be the first and last time that he'd run into her before she left Smallville once more. Turning, he walked to the Talon, took a seat and ordered coffee, passing the time of day with the waitress, who informed him there was a new woman in town. The few who'd seen and had known Lois previously began a discourse informing everyone that she wasn't new, but had in fact lived in Smallville years before. As the town only had had two realtors, when one walked in for his morning coffee minutes later, he was promptly questioned and confirmed that Lois had rented the old Murphy place for three months. That led to a full scale discussion on wondering what she'd been doing all this time, joking and laughter about how all the young single bucks would find some excuse to pop round and check her out, and speculation as to why she was back.

Keeping silent, Clark let the information flow around him, and enjoyed his beverage. He ignored the teasing looks thrown in his direction that he would be one of the young single men buzzing around her, but couldn't stop from scoffing at the suggestion silently in his head. After finishing his coffee, he called out a general goodbye and left to get some groceries before heading back to the farm.

This was a small town, so naturally anything new was the main topic of discussion. Men and women of marriageable age who stayed for any length of time, always made the top rung of the gossip ladder. He'd never realised when he was younger just how much gossip thrived in his home town, but now he did.

The first time he'd been inducted into the rumour mill he'd been shocked. One day he'd been minding his own at the feed store, said hello to a couple of the men and before he knew it, he was dragged into a discussion on the new attractive school teacher. That in turn led to speculation about whether Tim Watson was ever going to get around to marrying Lucy Arnold, a couple of women joined in the conversation, which then moved onto another topic and in the end, he'd been hard pressed to get away.

He'd gone home, told his mom all the news that he'd been given then asked her when did people in Smallville start gossiping? His mom had screamed with laughter, before informing him they always had.

He'd shaken his head and said that he'd never heard of it before. In return, she'd rolled her eyes and patiently reminded him that kids tended to live in their own little world. Teenagers had their own cliques, kept their gossip in their circle and it was usually about themselves. However, older people were interested in the lives of everyone, and as such they discussed everything, passed on any news they had to each other, and didn't tend to talk in front of kids who not only wouldn't be interested, but also weren't grown up enough to be considered an adult to join in their conversations.

He'd now become accustomed to being passed on the scuttlebutt of all the happenings in town, dragged into discussions and the like, so knew that people would calm down about Lois soon enough. As for himself, he had more than enough on his mind without wondering why a girl that he'd known only somewhat years ago was back. If her lack of enthusiasm at seeing him was any indication, she wouldn't care if she didn't see him again or not.

Admittedly he wasn't used to be ignored by the fairer sex, but Lois had never interested him overmuch, and he could say without doubt that the feeling was mutual. He was also well aware that years ago he hadn't taken the time to get to know her, and once again the same could be said in reverse.

Shrugging internally, he noted the time on the dash, and figured that he could get at least another hour of work in, before taking a break for lunch.

Swinging the wheel into the driveway, he pulled the truck to a stop in front of the barn, and unloaded the supplies that he'd bought from the feed store. After that the groceries were hauled into the house and put away, before he made his way outside and got back to work.

***

Lois placed her groceries on the kitchen table and smiled. When she'd arrived in the early evening the previous day, she'd been so tired from driving that all she'd felt like doing was dumping her things and going to bed; which was exactly what she'd done. However, when she'd woken up this morning, noticed the stillness and tranquillity all around, she knew that she'd made the right decision to come.

This was just what she needed; a small town that wasn't completely foreign to her, yet at the same time wasn't so familiar that people knew her well enough to make more than small talk.

A number of people that she'd known years before had stopped to pass the time of day with her. However, as this was a farming community, the majority of people weren't in town but on their farms working. As for the kids, once they finished high school they tended to leave, some came back others didn't, so the school age kids didn't know her, and only some of the older ones did. Although she hadn't gone completely unnoticed, neither had she been bombarded which was just the way she liked it.

The only person that she'd run into; almost literally that she'd known better than anyone else was Clark Kent. He would unquestionably be classified as eye candy by any woman who had a pulse, but she'd learnt long ago that appreciating a good looking man; didn't mean that she actually wanted said man in her bed or life.

She'd noted the look in his eyes; the same look men the world over had worn from the beginning of time when most anything with breasts crossed their path. So hoped that what she'd said had been enough to cut him down, thereby making him aware that not only was his interest not reciprocated, but that she'd prefer it if their conversation today was the last they had for another 15 years. From the way his eyes had cooled, to the glacial politeness in his tone of voice afterwards, she believed that he had gotten the message, so could only now trust that he would stay away.

Shaking off irrelevant thoughts, she put away the groceries then quickly changed into shorts and shirt, poured herself an iced tea and stepped outside the back door. It was quiet here, quiet and very very peaceful. Smiling at the utter serenity, she descended the stairs and walked around the garden.

She was only here for three months then she was off again. Maybe one day she'd find somewhere that she liked enough to put down roots, but so far that hadn't happened. Once or twice she thought that she'd found a place that she wanted to live permanently, but after the newness wore off, she'd grown bored and left. More than likely all the moving between army bases she done as a kid had given her itchy feet. Whatever the reason she liked her carefree lifestyle, and had yet to find any one place that held her attention for long.

After making a full circuit of the garden, she stopped beside the hammock that she'd set up before going into town earlier, and setting her empty cup down on the table beside it, slipped into the hammock, pushed the pillow under her head to get more comfortable and gently rocked. This was the life. Closing her eyes, her lips curved at the stillness all around. She could hear a couple of crows cawing at each other, a truck in the far off distance but otherwise; silence.

The warmth of the day, the stillness, and the light rocking soon put her in a restful doze that she didn't awake from until she felt the presence beside her. She knew who it was, and silently urged him to leave but when he didn't, she blew out a soft breath, and silently promised herself anew that it wouldn't happen.

Her eyes opened, travelled up the long jean covered legs that were in her line of vision, up past the broad chest that filled out the t-shirt very nicely, onto a firm chin and up to meet the eyes of Clark Kent once again.

At the fire in his eyes, she felt her breasts swell, the nipples firm, felt herself get wet and swore furiously in her head. She did not want this.

They both continued to stare, waiting for the other to speak.

***

Clark put down the phone down and scowled. He knew that if he didn't go and see Lois, his mom would somehow find out that he hadn't done as she'd requested, and then he'd never hear the end of it.

Lois had only been back one day and even though his mom was out of state, it hadn't stopped the rumour mill from reaching out and informing her that an old house guest of hers was back in town. That of course had his mom on the phone to him quick smart. As far as Martha Kent was concerned, civility and politeness demand that he go and make Lois welcome. When he'd told his parent that he'd already seen Lois and said hello, she'd all but snorted before informing him that a two minute conversation wasn't good enough.

Never mind that he had more than enough on his plate with running the farm, that he didn't have either the time or inclination to make neighbourly calls on a girl that he'd been happy to avoid at all costs years ago, or that he was over 30 and could do as he damned well pleased; when his mom told him to jump, he still did.

Well he'd go and do the neighbourly thing, but he wasn't going to shower or change his clothes. He had more important things to worry about than whether his appearance came up to Lois' standards. If she didn't like it; tough! He wasn't interested in impressing her, just keeping his mom off his back.

Gritting his teeth, he grabbed the keys to his truck and slammed out of the house. He'd stop in and see Lois, keep her company for 10 minutes and then he'd leave knowing that he'd done as his mother requested before getting back to work. God knows he couldn't take Lois for longer than 10 minutes; he'd barely said hello to the woman earlier, and had been on the biting edge of her sharp tongue within seconds.

He drove to the Murphy place, pulled into the driveway and killed the ignition before getting out, making his way to the front door and pressing the buzzer. After waiting for several minutes, he pushed it again but when still no answer was forthcoming he sighed heavily. He could leave, tell his mom that he'd made the effort, but ended by rolling his eyes when he heard her voice replying that ringing the doorbell wasn't effort enough.

He could see Lois' car under the portico so knew that she was home, but either she wasn't answering or couldn't hear the bell. He rubbed his brow, decided against intruding on her privacy by x-raying though the door, and knew that if he didn't make the effort to find her, his mom would find out, and then he'd be in for it. His mom's lectures were as bad as his dad's used to be, and they always but always made him feel like a naughty school boy.

Turning he walked down the stairs, stepped around to the back yard and found Lois. She was fast asleep in a freestanding hammock that he had to admit looked inviting as hell. The sheer curtain above protected her from the harsh glare of the sun, while the cloth bed she was lying on looked comfortable as sin. Clark rubbed his eyes hard when his penis began to swell. Fuck! He so did not want this; she looked sensuous as hell, wholly sumptuous and he wanted her so badly that his back teeth ached.

Walking silently on the grass, he came to a stop beside her and told himself that he was not getting into this with Lois. He'd say hello, welcome back and then he was leaving. However, he couldn't stop his eyes from travelling over every feminine curve lying right in front of him. He swallowed hard as his eyes swept from her bare feet up her long, long tanned and toned legs to the edge of her shorts, then came to a stop at the strip of skin where her shirt was tied at the waist. Dragging his eyes from the skin so temptingly within reach, his gaze moved up along her abdomen, to the full ripe breasts that were pushing against the material with every breath she took, and once again stopped. He tried moving his eyes away, but the v of the shirt with the hint of cleavage snagged his attention and wouldn't let go. He could just see the lace edge of the bra, the plump flesh enticingly beneath it, and swiped his tongue over his lips. His hand clenched as his fingers began to itch, and pulling his eyes away they settled on her face soft in sleep, to the little smile curving her lips. God he ached to bend down and take her lips with his, to slip his hand inside her bra and cup it around sun warmed skin. Taking a deep breath, Clark felt his jeans tighten a little more. If Lois gave him so much as an opening he was taking it; and he wouldn't be leaving in 10 minutes.

When her eyes opened and lazily trailed upwards, Clark grit his teeth when his penis swelled further and became uncomfortably hard beneath the restriction of his jeans. His eyes swept down to her breasts, noted the hardened tips pressing against the shirt, and knew that it wasn't from a cold breeze since there wasn't one. When their eyes met, he further understood that she didn't want this any more than he did, but both knew it was going to happen all the same.

Lois ignored the craving in her belly, the hunger in his eyes, and swallowed the gasp at the thoughts clamouring in her head. Taking a deep breath, she swung her feet of the hammock and sat up "What are you doing here?"

"Mom heard you were back, and told me that I had to come over and be neighbourly." He replied bluntly.

"So why didn't your mom just come over then?" She asked curiously.

"Because she's not at home, so I was designated as the Kent welcome wagon."

She nodded lightly "Ok, well you've done as your mom said so you can go now." She pushed herself up to stand, wobbled, he reached out to grasp her arm and their eyes locked once again.

They stared for a moment longer, then he tugged, she stepped forward and mouths met. Teeth clashed as tongues thrust and parried. The kiss wasn't soft, sweet or nice; it was hard, burning and left both of them aching. He tugged her shirt off, she pulled off his t-shirt, he tugged off her shorts; she unzipped his jeans and pushed them down. He tugged off his boots, kicked the jeans off impatiently and once underwear was disposed off, he slipped his hand between her legs to ensure that she was ready and finding her wet, Clark dropped to his keens, grasped Lois around the waist and brought her down to impale her onto his rigid penis.

Holding her steady he moved her up and down, slamming into her time and again, as their lips, teeth and tongues continued to joust. Pulling his lips free, he wrapped his arms tight around her waist, lifted her completely off him and brought her back down again, and again, and again. Lois bit into his shoulder, mewling desperately for something, for completion. Clark grunted against the side of her neck as he continued to drive and thrust into her. Their bodies locked, separated, locked and with a screech she convulsed heavily around him when he pushed forcefully into her one last time, groaning aloud in sheer release.

They fell onto the grass in a tangle of arms and legs, taking in deep gulps of air, then smaller pants until breathing evened and hearts resumed normal rhythm.

"That was one hell of a neighbourly call."

He heard the dryness in her voice, turned his head and nodded "Yeah it was, but it was better than sharing coffee, cake and small talk."

She let out a short laugh, reached for her clothes and began to tug them on "Well, now that that's out of the way, I'll be seeing you."

He nodded and likewise reached for his clothes "Yeah, I have to be getting back to the farm." They stood up, looked at each other and saw the desire still swirling in each other's eyes "But I'll be back later."

"You're not spending the night." She informed him calmly.

He tugged her into his arms, kissed her hard and deep before letting go and stepping back "Whatever the lady wants, but I'll still be back."

"The lady wants sex, and that's all."

He inclined his head "That's convenient then because that's all I want too; so now we both know where we stand."

"Yes we do."

"I'll be back around six, we can eat dinner afterwards." He turned to leave but swung around at her next words.

"This is not a _date_; I'm not interested in holding your hand while we share a milkshake. You'll be back around six, we'll have sex and then you can go home again; we will **not** be eating dinner together." She informed him steadily.

"As I said before, whatever the lady wants." With a nonchalant salute, he turned and strode out of the yard.

Lois watched him leave then retrieved her cup, before walking back into the house. Dropping the item into the sink she made her way directly to the bathroom, stripped, stepped into the shower and lifted her face to the stream. She wished that she could say that what happened between them had been unexpected, but couldn't. Before coming back to Smallville, she'd had no warning; if she'd received one she never would have set foot in the town. However, when she saw Clark earlier in the day, she'd known then. She'd had a flash, but the picture she'd gotten hadn't shown them in the backyard, but on a bed. She'd tried to tell herself that it wasn't going to happen, had scornfully insulted him so that he wouldn't seek her out, but from the moment she'd had that flash, it had already been too late and she'd known it all along.

Twisting off the taps, she stepped out of the shower, dried herself off before wrapping the towel around her, then walked out of the bathroom, down the hall and stopped on the threshold to the bedroom. This is where she'd seen them, in this room and on this bed. Sitting heavily on the edge, she rubbed her brow and closed her eyes. She'd gotten used to the flashes that invaded her head, she didn't like them, wanted them to go away but she had become accustomed to them; and they were never wrong. The one thing she had never adapted to was the invasion of other people's thoughts. With help she'd learnt to control and minimise them, to block them out to a certain extent and guard her own mind, but there were still occasions when she couldn't do that. Waking up was one of those times, that was when her mind was relaxed and when she was at her most vulnerable, so hated anyone to be around until she'd had time to build a wall. There were very few people that she felt comfortable having around when she first woke up, and those select few were people that she trusted implicitly.

When she'd begun to drift awake, she'd felt drowsily lethargic, and then she'd heard him. Before her eyes had even opened she'd heard Clark's thoughts, and knew that he wanted her but didn't want to want her. She'd silently urged him to leave, to turn around and walk away because she didn't want to want him either. When he didn't leave, she'd given in and opened her eyes. It made no difference whether they wanted it or not, it was going to happen nevertheless.

She could have feigned sleep until doomsday, but his thoughts had been enough for her to know that like it or not, he was as trapped as she was. There was no running, no hiding; when she'd looked up to find him standing in front of her in the street earlier, the pictures that flashed in her head, one after another in rapid succession had left her dazed and blinking in confusion. Then she'd recognised just who it was standing in front of her, and hoped that by going for the jugular Clark would be defensive enough that he'd give her a wide berth from that time forth. She didn't want to use the word destiny, she hated the word destiny, but she'd known then that before she left Smallville, she and Clark Kent were going to be lovers.

She hated that, she'd always made her own choices, her own decisions and had never left anything up to fate. But from the time she'd first begun having pictures flash in her mind, choice had been taken out of her hands.

She'd been grateful for the flashes on numerous occasions; there had been many times when she'd been able to use the picture to help others from being hurt, to stop what she'd seen from taking place, and when the picture changed to show her that all was well, she'd felt happy. However, when it came to her own life; running and walking away had never worked. The flashes just became more and more until finally the culmination when the picture was complete. She'd stopped trying to run, but she still hadn't learnt not to fight against it in some way; docility had never been in her vocabulary, so fighting was something that she would never stop doing.

Well she was only here for three months, and no doubt they'd burn themselves up in sex long before she left, but at least by fulfilling the picture, the flashes of them would stop. That was something she could count on, and take comfort in.

Standing, she stepped over to the chest of drawers to pull out underwear, then over to the cupboard and grabbed a sundress. Once dressed she combed her hair, slipped her feet into sandals and made her way to the lounge room to switch on some soft music. Stepping into the kitchen she made herself a sandwich, poured herself a glass of coke and sat at the table to eat before making her way back into the lounge room.

After setting up her little fold away table, she picked up the large sewing case sitting beside the sofa, and opened it. At the sight of the brightly coloured threads, the assorted needles and various bits and pieces she'd packed with care, her lips lifted. Unpacking the material carefully, she pulled the needle loose and was soon immersed in her craft.

Who knew that Lois Lane would enjoy sewing so much? When it had been recommended to her as an exercise to let her mind be quiet, she hadn't expected to enjoy it, much less keep it up, but at the time she'd been desperate to try anything. So she'd taken one class after another, had learnt all different types of sewing, but it was cross stitching that had captured her.

She could now sew anything, and actually made most of her own clothes, but it was cross stitching that was her joy. She loved the relaxation she felt while doing it, and the satisfaction when a piece of work was complete. Her friends and family certainly seemed to appreciate the pieces that she made for them, and she had found a vocation that allowed her to do what she enjoyed, while giving her the wherewithal to afford it.

The shop she owned with her partner was growing by leaps and bounds. They'd recently expanded to include the two dwellings either side making their enterprise larger, thereby providing customers with even more opportunities to spend their money, and their reputation for selling top quality materials, and finished products was swiftly flourishing. Best of all the arrangement worked beautifully for both of them. Anne was a homebody so was happy to stay in one place and keep the shop running, while she had the freedom to travel around America, enjoying her nomadic existence while continuing to scout out talent that would be interested in selling their work in her shop. They received a fair commission for selling the work, the artists made money, the customers were happy and all was well.

They now employed one full time and two part time assistants, all of which were talented enough to hold different types of sewing classes, they also had a regular customer base, plus those who wandered in off the street, and had begun a mail order business to keep and capture any others who wished to purchase from them. All in all it was a genuine pleasure to make money doing something that she enjoyed.

Holding up a panel that she was working on, Lois smiled in delight. This was her biggest piece to date, and it was only half complete but she was determined to get it done by Christmas. She knew that her dad would love it, and was looking forward to seeing his face when he saw the new bedspread that she'd made for him.

Smiling, her fingers kept busy; and her mind emptied of everything except the soft music in the background and meticulous work of her craft.

***

Clark brought his truck to a stop outside the barn, got out and began to pile all the materials into the bed for the fencing that needed to be fixed in the back field. Once everything was loaded, he was on his way. While his hands kept active, nailing and repairing one piece of fencing after another, his mind swirled.

Well he'd gone to see Lois as his mother had dictated, but he hadn't expected to have sex with her in the middle of the afternoon. Swiping his hand over his forehead, he looked over the field and shook his head. He'd felt desire, passion and wanting before, but never like that. When he'd seen Lois earlier in the day, he'd first felt surprise, then admiration then irritation. However, when he'd walked into her back yard, and saw her lying in the hammock, his mouth had gone dry while his mind had run rampant with pictures of them rolling around on the grass.

Well at least Lois would now know that not only was Lana the last thing on his mind, but that he'd changed a hell of a lot from the snivelling boy she'd known years before. It had never even entered his head to prove it to her, but he couldn't help but admit that it felt damn good to set her straight in a way that was not only extremely satisfying, but very enjoyable for both of them.

It had been a pleasant interlude and he was certainly looking forward to repeating it, but for now he had work. Shaking his head to dispel thoughts of Lois, he looked over the fields and felt his smile hitch up. Who knew that Clark Kent would be a trail blazer in Smallville? Years ago when he'd taken up farming full time, he'd started with just growing corn as had always been done. However, when he branched out and decided not to limit himself to only growing corn, a few of the older farmers had shaken their heads in dismay. Smallville was a corn town; it had always been a corn town so why on earth was young Kent now growing beans, carrots and other vegetables. He'd heard the talk, listened to the advice that had freely been given to him, then had gone and done his own thing; and he'd been successful at it.

He wasn't in the millionaire league, so couldn't be classified as rich but neither was he hurting. His bank account was nicely healthy, and every square inch of the Kent land was no longer co-owned by the bank; it was theirs debt free.

He didn't have unlimited free time where he could just sit back and relax, but that was just fine with him. He'd no sooner finished planting one vegetable than two others were ready for harvesting, not to mention all the other farm chores that had to be done, so he was kept busy all year round, and he was gratified with that. When he'd first mentioned the idea to his mom, she'd said that he should give it a go, so he had. Now, some of those same farmer's who'd shaken their heads at him initially, came to him for advice on branching out into other crops as well.

Being a farmer had never been his life goal, he'd never really had a life goal other than being a normal everyday guy. However, even normal guys had to work if they wanted to pay the bills, so when he couldn't find anything that he particularly wanted to do, he'd decided to give farming a serious go, and now understood why his dad had loved it. He was his own boss, didn't feel stifled sitting in an office, punching in and out by a time clock, and he had the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.

Farming suited him in multiple ways. He really liked that he could move at whatever pace he wanted to. Usually he didn't use super anything to keep the farm running, but when he needed to, he was lucky enough to have the ability to do so. He'd been farming full time for 12 years now, and had long since gotten it down to a fine art. Unless something happened out of the blue, every day he knew exactly what had to be done to keep the farm running smoothly, so rushing around wasn't necessary. As such he usually just pottered along and did everything the old fashioned way as his dad had done before him, and he enjoyed that too.

When Lana came to live with him after her divorce from Lex, he'd initially worked the farm so that he could have the normal life that he'd always dreamt off. When she took off, he'd worked at the Planet for a year, but soon came to realise that journalism wasn't for him. It never really had been, but at least he'd given it a go. Afterwards he'd left to do his training, came back two years later and took up farming. That was when he knew that being a farmer really was what he wanted to do with his life. It had nothing to do with living an ordinary existence, Lana, or running from his destiny; he just enjoyed it.

As he was his own boss he also had the freedom to leave and give assistance when it was required. He usually kept the radio switched onto a news channel, so had the liberty of taking off without worrying about anyone seeing him, then coming back to his real life. That was something his training had taught him, and he wished he'd done it long before he had. He could now move faster than when he was a teenager, faster than the eye could see actually, his hearing was even more acute but he'd also learnt how to block out extraneous sounds, he was much more adept with sleight of hand, and he could fly.

When he was a kid there were many times when someone witnessed what he'd done, or they'd questioned how he always happened to turn up when help was needed. Thanks to his training he no longer had to make up lame excuses. Although people were aware there was someone helping, at most they saw a blur, and that was the way he liked it. He retained his anonymity, managed to keep the traditional everyday life that he'd always craved, while giving him the ability to help when it was required all without fear of detection. His mom thought he should wear a costume like his friends in the JLA, but he really wasn't keen on that idea, especially considering the costume that she'd made for him. The first time he'd put it on, he'd taken it off a minute later and decided that costumes weren't for him.

Oliver still wanted him to join the Justice League and he'd seriously considered it, but although he was happy to help out inconspicuously when they needed it, he didn't want to be part of it full time. The last time Ollie had asked, he'd returned with the famous Groucho Marx quote _'__I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members'_, his friend had laughed in appreciation, but told him to think about it anyway. He'd thought about and maybe one day he would, but for now he was happy going it solo, and staying well under the radar.

Reaching down Clark picked up the last piece of fencing, hammered in the nail then looked along the line and felt pleased with his progress. After a quick look at his watch, he decided that he'd finish the rest tomorrow. Right now he had to take care of the animals before getting ready for his date; no not a date, an assignation. He liked the sound of that even more.

He piled the tools in the truck, drove back to the yard and after putting everything away, fed the animals then returned to the house, and made a beeline for the bathroom. Pulling the truck keys out of his pocket, he tossed them on the vanity, then swiftly undressed and stepped into the shower. And once again thoughts of Lois flowed into his mind. She didn't want him to stay the night; and that was just fine with him. She didn't want him to stay for dinner; that was also fine. Hauling his ass to her place for sex suited him down to the ground. He didn't have to waste time with social niceties, didn't have to try and sweet talk to get her into bed, and he didn't have to make polite conversation; he already had a sure fire guarantee that he was going to get laid. What man was going to refuse an offer by the lady herself to come and have sex, before merrily going on his way? Not him.

He twisted the taps off, grabbed a towel to quickly wipe off, snatched up the keys and walked into his bedroom. After dressing, he combed his hair, and left the house.

While driving to the house Lois had rented, memories of how she'd looked, her scent and the feeling of her wrapped around him earlier, caused his pulse to being throbbing. She'd smelt lightly of perfume and perspiration, her feet had been slightly dirty, obviously from walking in the yard, her hair piled carelessly on her head with loose tendrils falling haphazardly, tiny beads of sweat on her face and in the cleavage of her breasts; altogether combined had given her a somewhat fey appearance. Feeling her soft inner muscles surrounding and clutching at him, her breasts crushed against his chest, her mouth on his, her teeth biting at him, the sound of her voice in his ear...blowing out a harsh breath, Clark lifted his foot slightly of the accelerator and shook his head hard.

If he didn't think of something else, it was going to be over before it began. Switching the music on loud, he tried to drown out visions of Lois from dancing in his head, but it was useless. The closer he got to her place, the faster his pulse sped up. Pulling into the driveway, he turned off the ignition, got out of the truck, sprinted up the stairs and rang the bell.

When Lois pulled the door open, Clark snaked one hand around the back of her neck, one around her waist and tugged her to him. His mouth clamped onto hers, while the hand around her waist slid up and tugged down the zipper of her dress. They stumbled forward a few steps, mouths interlocked, as hands busily tried to tug clothes off. Growling impatiently, he slid them both down the wall, rolled her underneath, slid the dress up to her waist, tugged her panties down and growled again when she pushed his pants and underwear down before closing her hand around his shaft.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

Without further ado, he thrust inside and felt slick wet tight flesh encasing him. He reared back, thrust again and began to advance and retreat in and out faster, barely withdrawing before plunging back inside again. He tugged down the front of her dress, snapped open the catch of her bra, and pushed the cup out of the way impatiently to enclose as much of her breast into his mouth that he could, sucking strongly then tugging gently on the nipple with teeth and lips.

Lois gasped as the sensation of his mouth tugging on her breast shot straight to her womb, making her ache for more. Reaching down, she clamped her hands onto his bottom, lifted her legs to hook high around his hips, and cried out at the full delicious feeling of him pounding into her.

A snarl of excitement escaped Clark's throat when Lois' legs clamped high around his hips, pulling his penis deeper into her. His teeth raked over the nipple, before his mouth lifted to seal with hers. Tongues stroked and duelled, as their loins continued to collide and part; slamming back together time and again. Reaching down he grasped her thighs, pulled them high around his waist, and captured the cry that escaped her mouth with his. It didn't last long, it couldn't; both were already at fever pitch, and this just felt like a continuation of what had gone earlier. Falling over the edge moments later, they swallowed each other's moans as their mouths stayed fused.

Burying his face in the rug beside her neck, Clark relished in the feeling of her tissues quivering around his penis, while her previously tumescent nipple, softened against his chest. When Lois began gasping for breath, he rolled off her, and kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling, wondering if he had any brain cells left. When he could speak without panting, he blinked then frowned "Where the hell are we?"

Lois moved her head languidly and looked around "In the doorway between the hall and lounge room."

Gathering his strength, he pushed up to sit against the wall and rubbed his eyes hard "I didn't even get your clothes off."

Pushing herself up to sit against the door jamb opposite, Lois smoothed down her dress, tugged up the top to cover herself, and shrugged unconcerned "You got the important bit off; and now that we're done...." She waved lazily at the front door "Close the door on your way out."

He looked over, saw the front door was standing wide open and shook his head "We're not done yet." He kicked the door closed with his foot, crawled to her, and kissed her quickly "In fact we're far from done." At her lifted brow, he smirked "I intend to get you naked, on the bed and then we're going to do it all over again."

She raked her hands through her hair before letting them fall "You got me naked earlier in the day."

"And I'm going to do it again." He stood, pulled up his pants and zipped them then held out his hand. She took it and they'd no sooner stepped into the bedroom than round two began.

Feeling gloriously replete and lethargically pooped 90 minutes later, Clark blew out a deep breath, lifted up on one elbow and swept his eyes over her figure "You've got a hell of a body Lois."

Her eyes swept up and down his form in return "Ditto." Rising she walked to the cupboard, grabbed a robe and slipped it on "Well I'm hungry, and now that we _are_ done, it's time for you to put your pants on and leave."

He laughed, nodded and crawled out of bed. Once dressed he followed her to the front door, pressed her up against the wall and kissed her deeply "I'll be back tomorrow."

"Same time?"

He shook his head before pressing his lips to hers once again "Actually I was thinking instead of coming in the afternoon, I'd come after breakfast, and again before dinner."

She shook her head in answer "Nope, one or the other; I do have a life y'know."

He slid his lips to her ear, nipped lightly on the lobe and whispered "You're on vacation, and you'll make time for me because we both know with just a look, we can set each other off." He let her go, stepped back, and deliberately stroked his eyes down slowly. When her nipples hardened against the silk of her robe, the heat flared once again. Feeling himself swell, he took her hand, and placed it against his lower body. Looking up, he let her see the desire in his eyes that was likewise churning in hers "We've just spent two hours affirming our affinity in bed, and confirming just how astounding sex can be when the chemistry is right; yet without even touching we're both ready to go at it again."

Her lips curled slightly in acknowledgement "Then I'll see you tomorrow."

"Are you sure that I can't stay the night?"

Lois bobbed her head "I'm sure."

Clark inclined his head "Then I'd better go while I still can." He pulled the door open, stepped outside, heard the locks snick and shook his head. He'd expected it to be good; it couldn't have been anything else after what they had this afternoon, but holy shit.

He didn't know what in the hell was going on between them, but it was damned potent. He'd never wanted anyone so hard or fast in his life. He'd had some good sex before but what he'd just experienced had been mind numbing. Swiping his hands down his face, he got into his truck and drove home.

After having a shower, he ate dinner, did some bookwork, wrote out a few cheques for bills that had to be paid then went to bed. And once again thoughts of Lois stirred. Who the hell would have believed that Lois Lane could stir him up so much?

Her mouth used to annoy the hell out of him; it still had when he'd seen her earlier in the day, now it turned him on like a house afire. She didn't even have to touch him and the top of his head nearly blew off. Remembering again how she felt under him, on top of him, moving inside her, Clark groaned and shifted uncomfortably. Rolling over he tried to think of corn, beans anything but in the end had to get out of bed to have a cold shower. Leaning one hand against the tile, he let the water beat down on the back of his neck and closed his eyes.

He loved sex as much as the next man, but he'd never been a sex addict or a rutting beast. When it was over he was usually happy to go to sleep, especially if it saved him from having to make conversation. He liked falling asleep with a woman beside him, but honesty compelled him to admit it was because he loved having sex in the morning. Bart had sent him a comment that he'd found on the internet once, and he'd laughed out loud because he'd thought it was hilariously true. Before sex a woman's caress feels great; after sex her touch feels like the tentacles of a horrible beast trying to smother him. Right now he'd take Lois' chatter and her tentacles, if he could just be inside her again.

Earlier in the day he'd hoped never to see her again, now he wanted....god now he just wanted her. Hell, he really really wanted to grab the keys to his truck and go back to her place her again. He could still taste her, feel her, see her, and he really, really wanted to spend all night making love with her. Fast, hard, slow, gently. Her on top while he lay back and just enjoyed being ridden, while watching her full ripe breasts sway in time with her movements. Him on top revelling in the pleasure of taking her, feeling her breasts cushioned and kneaded against his chest, her legs wrapped tight around his hips. From behind, cupping a breast in one palm, his other hand sitting on the wet curls of her mound, their mouths locked, her hands running up and down his flanks before her fingertips dug into his buttocks; and always, always the sublime glorious feeling of being buried deep inside her. God, they'd done all of that, and he wanted to do it all over again now; right now! His eyes opened and swearing savagely, he reached down and did what he had to, if only to stop himself from going back to Lois and begging.

Climbing into bed once again, he determinedly didn't think of anything other than the work that had to be done around the farm, and went to sleep thinking about slugs and other garden pests that could attack his crops before he could stop them.

***

After Clark left, Lois stepped into the shower, stepped out again 20 minutes later, dressed in her nightclothes and headed into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she took out the cold meat and salad that she'd purchased earlier, served herself a generous portion, poured a glass of wine and sat at the kitchen table to enjoy.

Well the sex had been fantastic, but then she'd known it was going to be from the flash she'd had of them earlier, and from their adventures in the backyard.

It seemed that Clark Kent wasn't the little choir boy that he'd pretended to be years ago. Either Lana had taught him well; which she doubted since the girl had been far too self-centred to care about anyone's needs other than her own, or he'd had plenty of practice; which was unbelievable given the man in question, but much more likely all the same. Either way; at least until she and/or Clark got sick of the sight of each other, or her time in Smallville was up, whichever came first, she was going to be the very lucky recipient of a man who knew what he was doing when he got a woman naked.

Nothing was more off putting than a ham handed man who not only didn't know what he was doing, but whose only goal was getting off himself, without caring whether his partner was satisfied or not. Even when it had been fast, Clark had ensured that she wasn't left feeling empty or unfulfilled, and she was grateful for that. If he had, then she would have said 'goodbye and good riddance' and not even a picture flashed in neon lights 100 feet high would have changed her mind.

Finishing up her dinner, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, washed the dishes before grabbing the bottle of wine from the fridge to top up her glass, and retreated to the lounge room to once again become immersed with sewing.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm glad that although this story is a completely new take on the Lois/Clark romance (neither of them being reporters being a major difference, not to mention a lot of others, lol) that people are enjoying it regardless. Thank you muchly for the feedback.

Linda

**

**7****th**** June**

Clark knew that Lois was close, but the coiling tightness he felt within couldn't be staved off for much longer. Forgoing the luscious feeling of her breasts rasping against his chest, he levered up onto his hands for leverage, withdrew until only the tip of his penis was inside her, then began a driving rhythm, hammering quickly in and out of her channel barely pulling out before slamming forward once again. Lois's whimpers of pleading turned to moans then gasps and finished in one long wail as her inner muscles clamped tight around his shaft. Her cry of satisfaction was enough to know that she'd found release, her tissues contracting around his penis too much. Kneeling up straight, he slid his hands down the inside of her thighs to hold her legs firmly apart, and flexing his hips thrust in and out faster, grunting with desperation, until finally the tightness in his body snapped, and he shuddered in pleasure at the sensation of emptying himself inside her while her inner walls continued to squeeze and contract around him.

Falling straight down on to top of her, he quickly rolled onto his back at Lois' soft wheeze, and taking her with him, pressed his lips to hers for a series of quick kisses until breathing stabilised then his mouth locked fully onto hers. Lips caressed, tongues duelled lazily, teeth nipped playfully while his free hand swept down her back to her bottom and under, allowing his fingers to lazily stroke over trembling wet flesh. Flipping her back under him, his lips lifted for a heartbeat before diving back down and clamping onto hers once again. When they were both gasping for breath, he released her mouth and flopped onto the mattress at her side.

Staring up at the ceiling he wondered if he had the energy to go again. He certainly had the hunger and enthusiasm, but at the moment the power was lacking. Hell, no matter how many times he did it, he always had the strength for another round. Ok sometimes it took him a while to get going again, about five minutes, but if he didn't know better, he'd swear that Lois had some kind of aphrodisiac Kryptonite in her body. It was enough to leave him feeling deliciously drained, and wanting more but needing to recharge his batteries once again. He could try, god knows he wanted to, but if he couldn't finish what he started, she'd no doubt kick him out and tell him not to bother coming back. Forget it! That was not something he was willing to risk.

He slid his eyes to the side, saw her lying brazenly naked beside him, and asked himself again if maybe he did have the strength after all "How many times was that?"

"Do you mean altogether or just this morning?" She asked carelessly.

"This morning." Sweeping his eyes over her again, he licked his lips and wondered if he at least had the energy to lick her all over.

"This morning, three; altogether I don't have a clue." She replied stretching lazily.

Lifting his arms high, he likewise stretched before bringing his hands down to ruffle through this hair. Ok, he could live with three times, he'd like to try for more but no way was he going to chance losing a good thing now that he had it. He loved sex; the tension and need before, followed by intense pleasure during, and the tranquillity spreading through every muscle of his body afterwards made him feel like a big sleepy cat. He hadn't felt this relaxed so often in his life; granted he'd never had this much sex on tap before either. Usually when he was in the mood, he found someone, gave the itch a damned good scratch, and that kept him going until the next time.

He could go for months at a time without, that's not to say he was content doing so, but it was his usual practice. As trolling bars had never been his thing, and neither did he intend to give any woman the impression that he was in the market for a serious relationship by seeing them frequently just so that he could get some, he had to be satisfied by making do with the occasional bump in the night.

Right now he was living high on the hog. Actually, he felt somewhat like a squirrel gathering acorns for the winter by indulging himself with carnal pleasure for when he was back to making do after his liaison with Lois ran its course.

The only gripe he had was that she still refused to let him sleep over. Usually after having sex he tended to stay the night with the woman. Ok, so it was because he knew that he wouldn't be getting any for several months, so stayed in the hopes the woman would be in the mood for another round the next morning. However, since he was used to sleeping alone, then he had to admit the reward of having sex with Lois was well worth continuing with his usual habit, rather than giving it up for one night to have mediocre sex with another woman.

He'd never been dissatisfied with the intimacy he'd had before, but sex with Lois was beyond compare, nonpareil, choice; frankly she could turn into a fish wife straight afterwards and he wouldn't give a shit as long as she kept putting out. Well truth be told if Lois did become a raging harpy afterwards that would soon get old, but as their relationship wasn't permanent he could take it for a little while; so he was thankful that she didn't, but would still be back if she did.

They'd never said out loud that this was permanent or exclusive, but both of them had taken it as read. He was more than gratified with their arrangement; ok not gratified. He was satisfied physically yes, but he'd be a lot happier if he could stay the night, and happier still if he didn't get the feeling that after it was over, he was just in her way.

From the corner of his eye he saw Lois sit up, reach for her robe and sighed. That was his cue to leave.

When she turned to him, he lifted a hand and nodded "I know; we're done and you want to have another shower before eating breakfast and getting started on your day, so it's time for me to go."

"Right." She inclined her head slightly before stepping out the room; a moment later he heard her in the kitchen.

Getting up, he walked out the room to the bathroom, stepped into the shower, and five minutes later stepped out to make his way back to the bedroom to dress. He'd gotten the timing down to a fine art, since he couldn't have one of his two minute showers, he'd decided that five was enough and since Lois hadn't said anything, he figured that must be the usual amount of time a man without super-speed took in the shower. Of course, she might not have said anything because she was quite happy for him to hurry up and leave afterwards; but whatever worked.

He'd noticed two things about Lois very quickly; she didn't appreciate questions, and was a lot more private than she used to be. When he'd met her years ago he'd thought that unlike himself she was a very open person. However, it hadn't taken him long to realise that was a fallacy.

Lois gave the impression of being open, but she was actually a lot more reserved than he or anyone else was. The only thing he hid was his heritage; and since his powers came under that umbrella that was also kept to himself. Lana talked a lot of crap about openness, honesty and trust, but had secrets by the dozen, while Chloe and his parents kept any information about him to themselves. But as Lois had been very talkative, he'd assumed erroneously that she was an extrovert in all areas of her life. Well she'd proven him wrong.

She might not have secrets but Lois kept her private business to herself. He'd discovered that years ago when he found out that she had a sister only two minutes before the girl arrived. However, Lois appeared to be a lot more guarded now, she didn't talk as much, and at times she seemed to keep herself on a tight leash.

Then again he wasn't usually around long enough to know if she still talked a lot. The only kind of chatter he got out of her was sexy talk, and when it was over, a polite dismissal. Their only point of contact was rolling around naked twice a day.

He couldn't say that he was friends with the women he'd slept with; they talked, laughed or had a rollicking time between the sheets, but he wouldn't classify them as friends, and was certain they would say the same about him. Lois was different; he didn't mind zipping his pants straight after they were done, but leaving without having gained any more knowledge about her than he'd had years before was beginning to grate. He used to think that he could pigeon hole her easily; Lois equalled annoying, exasperating, stubborn, loud, pushy et al. Before she left Samllville he'd gotten to know her a little bit, but not very. He'd been far too busy trying to get into Lana's pants the first time, and then even busier trying to get back into them again after he dumped her, and she ran whining to Lex to give anything or anyone much of his time unless the situation was dire.

So as he hadn't taken the time to get to know Lois years before, and as she wasn't inclined to give him anything other than her body now, he'd either have to learn to be satisfied with what he got, or try and get to know her....if she let him. He didn't even know why he felt like he should make the effort. Lois seemed happy enough with their arrangement, she'd never once asked him what he'd been doing in the 15 years they hadn't seen each other. In fact she never asked him anything; no questions, no wheedling into his feelings, thoughts or emotions; nothing.

On the one hand their arrangement felt right, after all they were both adults so what they did was their own business, on the other it felt wrong and he didn't know why. It had never felt wrong with any other woman. Possibly because he'd known Lois years ago, maybe because of Chloe, more than likely because she'd lived with his family and his parents had loved her. Whatever the reason it did feel somewhat strange to treat their alliance like it was nothing more than an endless string of causal encounters, even if that was exactly what it was.

Shaking his head, Clark pulled on his boots and headed out of the bedroom. He walked into the kitchen, saw Lois leaning against the sink looking out the window to the back yard and stepped up quietly behind her. Placing his hands either side of her waist on the sink, he caged her in, and bending down, pressed his lips against the side of her neck.

He felt the small jump before she turned around, noted that her eyes were shadowed, and once again wondered just why he cared that she seemed to be hiding something. He was hiding stuff from her, this wasn't a relationship and he knew it, but it still bugged him.

When she pushed lightly against his chest, he stepped back "What are you having for breakfast?"

"Why?'

"I'm just asking."

Lois shrugged casually "Fruit, cereal and juice."

He pursed his lips and decided to give it a try "Can I stay."

She shook her head "No."

"Of course not." Raking a hand through his hair, he sighed "Lois, it's just breakfast; I'll be on my way afterwards."

"Sorry." She replied, but her tone indicated that she was anything but.

He nodded and tried again "What have you been doing in the 15 years since you left?"

"Travelling." She stepped past him into the lounge room and headed to the front door.

He followed but stopped in surprise at seeing the little table set up beside the couch with the array of sewing paraphernalia. His eyebrows climbed even higher when his eyes landed on the material sitting on the couch. He picked it up, noted the intricate workmanship and looked over at Lois "Is this yours?"

She swung around, saw that he was holding her work in his hand and shook her head "No it's my invisible friends." She replied sweetly.

He ignored her words and shook his head stupefied "When did you take up sewing; I know that you never did it years ago."

"I do a lot of things now that I didn't do years ago." She informed him steadily before stepping over to take the material from him and placing it back down.

"Like what?"

"Like you." She replied rapidly.

He let out a small burst of laughter at the unexpected reply "Ok, except for that, what else do you do now that you didn't do then?"

"None of your business."

"Why are you so guarded Lois?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?" She countered stiffly.

"I'm curious." He replied with a light shrug.

"Well don't be." She replied firmly "I'm not a puzzle that needs solving and I don't appreciate curiosity."

"There's no need to be so defensive." He replied holding up his hands in surrender.

"Yes there is, just as you liked your privacy years ago, so did I; the difference is that I still do."

"Fine, I didn't think asking when you took up sewing and what you've been doing could be classified as probing, but if it'll make you happy I'll back off."

"Thank you."

When she turned for the door, he followed but before she could reach for the handle, he grasped her hand and gathered her into his arms for a long deep kiss. Lifting his mouth from hers slightly, he tried once more "If I don't ask any questions, can I stay for breakfast?"

"I'm sure you can find something to eat at your place." She returned dryly.

"But I won't have the company." He countered softly.

"If you're that lonely turn on the radio."

"Is that what you do?"

"I like my own company, and I'm not afraid of it either so…" She trailed off tauntingly.

"I never said that I was afraid of; nor that I didn't like my own company." He retorted steadily.

"Then you should enjoy your solitary breakfast."

"You know, some women actually enjoy my having me around."

"Then why don't you go find those women and have a jolly good time." She returned blandly.

"You're still the same smart ass that you used to be."

"Well you were an up and comer years ago; not as good as me of course but you have gotten better with age."

"Is that a compliment, did Lois Lane just compliment me?" Clark asked with a small smile of sarcasm.

A laugh popped out before she could stop it, and quickly schooling her features she cleared her throat "Don't let it go to your head."

"How can I not? I can't remember too many times when you complimented me years ago."

Her brow flew up in challenge "You think my calling you a smart ass is a compliment."

"Mmmm, and I've come to know just how much you like my ass since you're always grabbing it when we're rolling around." He grinned when she snorted out another laugh.

"I won't anymore."

"I guess we'll find out tonight when I return." He paused for a beat and smugly finished "I'll count the seconds after I walk in the door to see just how long it takes before you grab on."

She looked at him exasperated, pulled open the door, and with a quick wiggle of his hips, and a jaunty wave he left.

While driving home, eating breakfast, and doing farm chores Clark wondered what the hell his problem was, and whilst eating lunch finally figured it out. He was used to women probing into his life, trying to wheedle him into talking about his feelings, and subtly attempting to move their 'relationship' forward. He'd become quiet adept at avoiding any and all conversations of that nature. It wasn't that he wanted to move his liaison with Lois forward into a relationship, but neither was he used to being treated as nothing more than a body available for her gratification. That irked, that was almost insulting, that was pretty much how he'd viewed his past interludes with women, and being on the receiving end wasn't a welcome change.

A long time ago he'd stopped being an idealistic day dreamer who believed that having the hots for a girl meant that he loved her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and that she was the only person he wanted to sleep. Good grief, only sleep with one person for the rest of his life when there were so many other choices out there was plain insane. Sex with Lois was fantastic but he sure as hell didn't want to set up house with her, or tie himself down. He enjoyed his bachelor lifestyle, and wasn't inclined to give it up any time soon.

So he'd forget about worrying if Lois was hiding something, if she was then it was her business. So he knew her years ago, big deal. That was almost another lifetime now, and neither of them were the same people they had been, so the past didn't matter. As for his mom and Chloe, well he loved them both, but what he and Lois got up to was no one's business but their own, but just to play it safe he wouldn't tell them.

Lois hadn't said anything about Chloe, true she'd only been back for a week but if she'd wanted to know about her cousin, she would have asked. Likewise if she wanted her cousin to know that she was back in Smallville, then she could easily contact her. Yeah, it would be nice for the two girls to get together, but he wasn't going to force a reunion if Lois had her reasons not to search for one. He didn't see Chloe very often, she was busy working at the Planet, he was busy with the farm, so keeping his silence on Lois being in town would be fairly easy.

Pushing back from the table, Clark quickly washed the plate and glass before heading back outside and continued doing the chores at a more leisurely pace. For the past week he'd completed his morning chores in the usual way before having a shower and heading to Lois' house. However, after getting back he'd had to use super-speed to get his work back on track, after spending an hour or two mattress wrestling with her.

He wasn't complaining, it was definitely worth it, and that was the absolute truth. Lois hadn't told him anything, but when questioned the first day, Roy Atkins had confirmed that she was renting the Murphy place from him for three months. So he figured that he could put up with using his powers to keep his farm chores on track for three months. It wasn't exactly a tribulation when the rewards were so outstanding.

Now if he could just convince her to let him stay the night, then he wouldn't have to bother hauling his ass to place and back again every morning. He could easily imagine the two of them making love, napping, going at it again, napping and continuing the thread all night, only to wake up and doing it all over again.

Shaking himself out of the trance he'd fallen into, Clark looked around, realised that he'd walked out into the field without grabbing any equipment, and sighed heavily before heading back to the barn. Enough; sex would come later, right now he had work.

***

Once Clark left, Lois rushed back to the lounge room and picked up her sewing to ensure that no threads had been pulled by his handling, following a careful inspection, she set it back down with a pleased smile and retreated to the bathroom for a shower. Once she was dressed, breakfast was consumed and sitting back in contentment with her feet up on a spare seat, she nursed her juice, and stretched once again, feeling incredibly good all over.

Damn but she was tempted to let him stay over one night, just one. It had been a couple of years since she'd last fallen asleep with a man's arms around her, and she missed it. Ah well, at least when she went to sleep it was with a smile on her face. Usually by the time Clark left the only energy she had was for a shower, dinner and sewing; actually that didn't sound bad for a vacation.

She'd only been back in Smallville for a week, but hadn't felt so relaxed in years. The quiet of the small town, combined with the phenomenal sex she was getting twice a day had caused a calmness inside that she'd hadn't enjoyed in years. She particularly appreciated that Clark knew when his welcome had run out, and left without any awkward scenes. He'd asked a few questions but hadn't dug for answers when she in turn hadn't felt like sharing. No doubt because they'd known each other years before, he felt that he should play the part of a gentleman who pretended an interest in a lady after getting what he'd come for. However, as she didn't consider that necessary, and much preferred their relationship to stay on a surface level only, it had been fairly easy to close any lines of communication down.

Pushing up from her seat, she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, stepped into the bedroom to apply makeup, then grabbed her bag and left for the market.

20 minutes later she swung the car into a parking space, turned off the ignition, grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car. It was a beautiful day; and thankfully it was still early enough that it wasn't overly hot.

Walking into the market, Lois grabbed a trolley and began to stroll up and down the aisles, smiling and greeting people in turn while plucking various items from the shelves. She was in the middle of deciding which ice cream she wanted, when the flash burst full blown in her head. Her hands clamped tight around the handle of the cart, her stomach quivered in fear. Knowing that she didn't have the luxury of time to settle down, question or second guess anything, she spun and ran through the store, hoping that she'd make it in time.

Running past aisle after aisle, she ignored the startled looks thrown in her direction, the occasional mutters and finally saw the child standing in front of the over burdened shelf stacked high with tins of dog food, noted that his mother didn't realise the danger her son was in, and put on a burst of speed. God he was only a baby, only a small little thing, she knew what would happen if she couldn't make it in time, knew that he wouldn't survive. Her heart raced, her legs pumped, and seeing the shelf tilt, she dived forward in desperation, grabbed the kid, tucked him close to her body and rolled them both clear, just as the shelf broke and tins crashed down to the ground.

Panting heavily, she rolled to her knees, stood the child up and hoped that she hadn't hurt the kid in her haste. The poor thing had had a fright so was wailing his head off, so although she understood, she was also infinitely glad when his mother scooped him up in her arms "Oh my god; thank you."

Lois waved her hand, sat down heavily on her bottom and nodded.

"Miss are you alright?" She nodded again, tried to stand and found that her legs didn't want to work. Now that the fright and adrenaline had passed, she hurt big time and her legs felt like jelly.

All she could hear was a buzz of voices and wished they'd leave her in peace, but when the next flash came, showing the same child happily playing at home, she wanted to cry in relief that her head wasn't full of images showing his poor little body; bloody and broken under an avalanche of tins.

People still buzzed around, the mother was still pressing kisses against her son's hair, and when an arm slipped around her waist to help her to her feet, Lois smiled gratefully.

"Thank you."

"Are you ok?" Mr Shaw; the store manager asked urgently.

"I'm fine." Looking around at the hive of activity, she saw that the staff was busy cleaning up, and people were smiling at her.

"I'm so sorry about that." Mr Shaw apologised remorsefully.

"It was an accident, and there was no harm done except to the little fellow who got a bit of a fright." She smiled slightly but continued soberly "You might not want to overburden the shelves though."

"We'll definitely be unloading them if need be, and we're also going to check all the others; the brackets, the shelving everything. Any that even look slightly heavy or shoddy will be replaced and un-burdened immediately." He promised solemnly.

Unable to wait any longer, the grateful mother stepped forward "Thank you; if you hadn't been here Peter might have...." She trailed off and finished gratefully "Thank you."

"You're welcome, it was just lucky that I was running to get out of the store because I thought that I'd left my car keys in the ignition when I noticed the shelf was tilting." She lied placidly, and felt completely charmed at the gap toothed smile Peter was subjecting her to. He couldn't be any more than two or three, and was so adorable that it was plain to see that one day the little tyke would grow up to be a heartbreaker.

Moving her son to one arm, the woman held out her hand "I'm Anne Beard."

"Lois Lane." She shook the woman's hand, then the others which were likewise held out and had begun to chat casually when her eyes widened "Oh my god, I just realised I left my trolley, with my purse sitting in it in the dairy aisle; I'd better go."

"Wait Miss Lane..." Tapping one of his employees on the shoulder, the manager gave him brief instructions and several minutes later her trolley was returned, with her purse still sitting in the seat.

"Thanks." Lois picked up her purse, pulled out her wallet to check the contents and sighed in relief before looking up at the waiting audience "Now this is something that should be used as PR for your town. If I'd been in the city my purse would be gone, so would the money and my bank account would have been cleaned out already."

"I take it that everything's in order?"

"Yeah it is, and believe it or not, my car keys are in here." She laughed lightly then smiled at the manager once again "Thank you."

Mr Shaw shook his head and held out his hand "Thank you." He replied sincerely.

Breaking away from the bunch of women who seemed intent on thanking her, wanting to chat and become fast friends wasn't easy. Not wishing to hurt their feelings, Lois stayed and chatted for 10 minutes before excusing herself. She was only allowed to leave after promising to enjoy morning tea on the morrow so they could all become better acquainted.

After swiftly finishing her shopping, she moved to the checkout only to be told that her groceries that day were free, and deciding not to argue but just accept the gracious offer, she thanked the manager once more before leaving the store and heading home.

Placing the groceries on the kitchen table, she sat down and took stock. Her elbow and knee was sore, but her hip was hurting big time. Lifting her dress, she was unsurprised to see the huge bruise that was rapidly blooming.

Well a bruise was nothing compared to what could have happened. It was going to be unsightly as hell, it already hurt like a son of a bitch, but the consequences could have been a lot worse.

After retrieving a cold pack from the freezer, she debated for a minute, grabbed a bag of peas and taking two tea towels, limped to the bathroom and grabbed both the St Johns wort and the organic cream that she'd learnt to keep readily available at all times, and made her way to the bedroom.

She slipped off the dress, sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped the cold pack and the peas in the towels, and held one to her hip and the other to her knee. This was at least something good about the flashes; she was no longer unprepared when any first aid treatment was required, and had learnt to sit patiently while treating her various bumps and bruises.

Tossing both packs aside 20 minutes later, she scooped out some lotion, added a few drops of St John's wort and massaged it gently over her hip, hissing softly at the sting. Now that the excitement was over, tiredness was sweeping over her. Lying down carefully Lois closed her eyes and drifted into a light doze, waking up an hour later still feeling sore but much more the thing.

She'd expected her body to ache so wasn't surprised in the least when it did, but thanked goodness she kept fit so expected the worst to be over within a day or two. After slipping into a loose flowing dress that wouldn't irritate, she headed to the kitchen in search of lunch, giving herself a mental reminder to call the farm after she'd eaten. She'd have to tell Clark not to bother coming around since she was in no shape for fun and games; at least now she wouldn't have to put up with his gloating when she grabbed his ass. He was right about that, he had a first class butt, one that she was hard pressed to keep her hands of....actually not just her hands, she'd bitten it once or twice as well. If his laughter was any indication, he'd certainly enjoyed it when she'd sunk her teeth in.

At the buzzing of the door bell, she closed the fridge, made her way to the front door and smiled at the two women standing on the stoop.

***

When his phone rang, Clark wiped his hands on a rag, dug it out of his pocket and had barely said hello when the voice on the other end began chattering away. His brows climbed high, his lips tilted and after saying goodbye he hung up and smiled. He had a feeling that Smallville's newest heroine was unaware of just how popular she was about to become. Anne would certainly be grateful that Lois had been in the store. She and her husband Alan loved their boy to bits, and if they'd lost him, both would have been devastated. As there were multiple witnesses to the event, it wouldn't just be Anne who would be spreading the news far and wide.

Smallville's grapevine would be jumping like crazy, the news spreading like wildfire through town, as phones burned hot. He had a feeling that Lois would very shortly find herself inundated with visitors. Those who didn't know her years ago would be making her welcome; and those who had known her would be happily renewing her acquaintance once again.

Well she wanted to have a holiday in corn town USA, and now she was going to find out just what that entailed. Just as he'd been ignorant of how loquacious adults were in the town before being considered old enough to be inducted into their inner circle, he was sure that Lois was likewise unaware. However, she was soon going to be getting a crash course in the reality of just how hospitable small town life could be, and he was certain that by the time he returned to her place at six, that she would have found a whole host of new friends.

Chuckling, he swiped his forearm over his brow, sped to the house and stepped into the kitchen. Well he'd better get busy, the day was only half over and he still had a lot to do before he could finish up.

When his phone rang again 20 minutes later, he took a sip of coffee, looked at his watch and nodded in satisfaction. Digging the phone out of his pocket, he smiled at the name on the screen, and clicked the button "Hi mom...."

***

_Several hours later _

When Lois swung open the door at his knock, Clark's brows flew up at the almost forced smile of welcome on her face. Rather than moving forward, he stayed leaning casually against the door jamb "So I heard about what happened at the store."

"You and everyone else in town" She replied tartly.

His lips twitched "And how is Smallville's newest heroine doing on this lovely summers evening?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily "It was dumb luck but I haven't had any peace since shortly after getting home. I've had a parade of people come and visit, and most of them didn't come empty handed, so I now have an overflowing fridge with more food than I can possibly eat."

His lips curved, as his hand came out from behind his back, presenting her with a homemade apple pie. When her eyes goggled he shrugged "I was in the process of making it when mom called. She also heard about what happened, and told me that I had to make you something. I was very happy to inform my parent that I was already doing so, since I knew that she'd be on the phone demanding that I do."

Lois shook her head and pointed at the pie "Why don't you take that home, and if or when I talk to your mom, I'll just tell her it was delicious."

He shook his head back and forth slowly "Uh huh, this is for our town's newest celebrity."

"If I take it, will you please take some of the stuff that's in my fridge; otherwise it'll probably go off before I get a chance to eat it all." She all but pleaded.

His lips curved "I can do that, what've you got?"

"You name it, and it's in my fridge. Just make sure to bring back the plates and bowls since I'm going to have to return them."

He nodded agreeably, stepped inside the house and closed the door before following her to the kitchen "Does this mean I get to stay for dinner?"

"No, this means you can take it and have a good feed tonight." She took a seat at the table and waved her hand "I meant to call the farm and tell you not to bother coming over but got sidetracked by a flood of visitors. Maybe in a few days I'll feel up to it, but for now just help yourself to whatever's in the fridge."

Clark put the pie on the table and took a seat opposite "I noticed that you were limping slightly; what's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that I'm sore and in no condition for a tumble."

He nodded slowly before cocking his head to the side "Then let's forget about tumbling each other, and take our time. If I promise to be extra gentle, kiss all the bruises and hurts, what'd you say?"

"My hip, knee, and elbow are hurting Clark, so not tonight."

"Have you put anything on them?" He frowned giving her a quick surreptitious once over with x-ray vision.

"Yeah, I just have to let them heal."

Having seen that she was sporting some pretty impressive bruising, but feeling relieved that there was nothing broken or seriously injured, he nodded "Did you hurt your back?"

"No it's fine."

"You could have bruises there that you can't see or reach Lois; do you want me to check?"

"It's fine; I'm sore all over but there's nothing wrong with my back." She told him tiredly.

Deciding that he'd have to check later, he pushed back his chair, stepped around the table and tilting up her chin, bent and placed his mouth against hers. Moist lips caressed and moulded, tongues danced slowly and as the kiss became deeper, she stood and he gathered her into his arms. His mouth lifted a fraction before locking onto hers once more, while his fingers danced gently down her spine and up again.

When their lips finally parted, he gave her a lopsided smile "I hope you don't mind, but I needed that to sustain me through the next couple of days."

"Were you trying to stir me up?" She asked politely.

"No, I just figured that since you didn't mention that your lips were hurt, a kiss would be safe enough." At her nod, he stepped back and opened the fridge. After looking through the array of goodies, he made his selection and carting them, followed her to the front door checking her back as he did so. Seeing nothing but smooth tanned skin he sighed partly in relief, partly in longing.

When Lois pulled open the door, he stepped out but turned back "How quickly do you heal?"

She shrugged indifferently, but he saw the laughter in her eyes "I'm a slow healer, very slow."

"How slow?" He asked alarmed.

"Very!" She repeated and closed the door.

Returning to the kitchen she grabbed a tray, and collected any stray cups, glasses and saucers that had been left lying in the lounge room after her visitors had left for the day. The women had taken care of the bulk of the washing up, but there were a few things here or there that had been missed. After a quick check to ensure that she'd gotten them all, Lois circled back to the kitchen, packed everything into the dishwasher, and after starting the machine checked both the back and front doors were secure, before retreating to the bathroom for a shower.

Lifting her face, she smoothed back her hair and let the water beat down on her face before turning around, for it to beat down on the back of her neck.

It was just after 6.30 but she was tired. Having a house full of people was exhausting when you weren't expecting them in the first place. When she'd first answered the door there had only been two women who had come over to get acquainted. They were on their way out when a couple more came, so they stayed, and what started as a trickle of people turning up became a gush. What else could she do, but entertain.

They were all nice, friendly, neighbourly people who wanted to welcome her into their community. She'd thanked them, but said that she was only here for a few months, to which the ladies had smiled in return, and said that she would always be welcome either way. But while she was retrieving coffee, soft drinks and iced tea to suit all present, she'd heard their not so silent whispers to each other, which soon became an open forum for discussion with no hint of secrecy. First came the conjecture on which of the men in town would begin calling on her, subtle hints were dropped next about this one's attributes, or that one's standing in the community, that was swiftly followed with open chatter about who would make a good husband, or which men she should avoid at all costs, and finally arch speculation on which of the men would most likely catch her eye, or catch her and maybe even tie her down.

She'd wanted to laugh at that, if they only knew that one man was already calling, but not for the reasons they believed. Deciding it would be best to change the subject, she'd instead asked if any of the ladies were interested in sewing, cross stitching or any other type of art and from there the conversation had flourished.

Twisting off the taps, she stepped from the shower, wrapped her hair in one towel, grabbed another to wipe herself down carefully and made her way to the bedroom. After applying moisturiser, drying her hair and applying more ointment to her bruises, she slipped into a loose cotton nightdress, pulled back the covers and crawled between the sheets. It had actually been quite a productive day all told, yeah it seemed that her desire for solitude and anonymity was gone, but she might have found at least a couple of promising artists who would be happy to sell their work in her shop.

Turning onto her side slowly she closed her eyes and smiled. There was nothing wrong with scouting out talent while she was on holiday, and maybe if she did find one or two whose work was good enough to be sold, then she would also be helping them to make some money doing what they enjoyed.

Tomorrow or the next day she'd have to start making the rounds. Those who had dropped by had made it clear that she was welcome to stop in and say hello, or come by for a cup of coffee, and she'd also been asked to join a group of ladies for morning tea when they got together for a gossip. As their gossip wasn't spiteful, but informative, she'd been utterly charmed when they didn't even bother pretending they were getting together for a chat and coffee, but to exchange news. She'd been hard pressed not to laugh when informed that her old boss and landlady Martha Kent could exchange scuttlebutt with the best of them. They were so warmly hospitable that it would be rude not to drop in and visit, and now she also had a secondary reason; business.

As she began to drift off to sleep a flash invaded her head causing her to frown. Ok, that picture was wrong. She and Clark got hot and heavy between the sheets, but they'd never been mushy about it. Neither of them had just hatched from the egg, they were both well aware their relationship started and stopped with sex and that was all. They were already involved, ok, they were involved in the most loosely broadest sense of the word, but still the flashes should have stopped after the first time they'd slept together. Well this was obviously a glitch, but it was the first time that it had happened, so more than likely it would also be the last.

***

Picking up one bowl Clark spooned out a generous serving of chilli on his plate, reached for another bowl and dished out some potato salad, then pushed it aside gently to make room for a roasted piece of corn on the cob. Carrying the containers to the fridge, he stored them neatly, returned to the island and swept his heat vision over the plate until the steam was gently rising and smiled. What could be nicer than chilli, warm potato salad and corn; oh he knew the piece of cherry pie that he'd yet to dish out.

Picking up the tin, he peeked inside and his grin got bigger. He'd warm it up later. Placing it in the fridge, he grabbed a bottle of beer, sat at the island and enjoyed his dinner. Well technically, it was supposed to be Lois' but as she'd said, more than likely it would go off before she could eat it, so if he didn't take it then the food would just go to waste.

Pushing back his plate when done, he looked out the window feeling comfortably full. The dinner was nice, very nice. However, it would have been even more enjoyable if he could've worn himself out with a robust session of sex first. If not robust, then leisurely, or replete would do; anything that would have left him feeling lethargically good all over.

Hopefully she'd feel better in a day or two, so they could resume their activities. If she'd been seriously hurt he would have insisted on taking her to the medical centre, but knew that right now her body was just sore from the impact of taking the brunt of the beating when saving young Peter.

Although he still found it hard to get his mind around how anyone could be hurt from taking a tumble, he had learnt how to distinguish when a person was seriously injured, and when they were hurt but it wasn't time to call the paramedics.

When he was younger he'd never appreciated the power of his own strength, and as a result had used much more force than was necessary in the pursuit of helping others. During his training Jor-el had much to teach him about the magnitude of his powers, and it was then that he'd come to fully realise that he had the strength and speed to stop criminals easily, so hurting them physically in anger or haste to help others was not only wrong, but unnecessary.

He'd still wanted to help people but not in the way he used to; knocking criminals six ways to Sunday wasn't helping, it only made him little more than a vigilante metering out his own punishment; and that was unacceptable. However, as he was invulnerable to being hurt unless Kryptonite was around, it had been hard for him to fathom how anyone could acquire bruises, scrapes and the like just from falling down, or being knocked. So to gain an understanding of the fragility of the human body, he'd voraciously read medical journals, books on reflexology and massage and now knew how to help those in need, without hurting the ones he was protecting them from. There was nothing he didn't know about pressure points, how much strength could be applied before it became painful, or the toll the human body experienced from falls, breaks and scrapes, as such he no longer used his strength against perpetrators. Now he stopped them by tying them up, but he didn't throw them through roofs, heave them into walls, or send them flying from one side of the room to the other through impatience, anger, or just because he could.

So as he was very well acquainted with the human body now, he knew that Lois would be aching for a day or two, the bruises would take longer to heal, but she wasn't seriously injured for which he was grateful. If she hadn't been at the store, more than likely Peter would have died. His small body wouldn't have been able to withstand the avalanche of tins raining down on him, and if she hadn't rolled out of the way quick enough, then Peter might have been saved by the shelter of her body, but Lois herself would have taken the brunt of beating, and have a lot more than a few bruises to show for it.

That hadn't happened; both Peter and Lois were ok, so thinking of what might have been was pointless. Shaking off his introspection, Clark stood to retrieve a quarter plate and knife, got the cherry pie from the fridge, cut a liberal portion and scooped it onto his plate to enjoy.

After washing up the dishes, he retreated to the lounge and turned on the TV. Forty minutes later the television was switched off, and The Farmers' Almanac sitting beside his chair was picked up but tossed back down a moment later.

It was only just edging toward 7.45 and normally right now he'd be rolling around naked with Lois. Ok, they would almost be finished, maybe, possibly; or they could be getting ready to go again. Shit; they'd spent the better part of two hours in bed this morning and he'd still wanted more. He should have tried for another round then. He'd thought about it, he'd wanted to, and now he wished that he had. Maybe he could go and see her tomorrow morning, offer to massage all the knots out. Lying down for hours would cause her muscles to stiffen, so when she woke up, she'd be bound to feel a little stiff and would maybe appreciate a helping hand.

Rubbing his hands over his face Clark sighed; he couldn't believe that he was thinking about pretending to be an altruistic friend, no not friend. Boyfriend; definitely not, companion didn't fit, acquaintance was wrong...oh hell who cared, he couldn't believe that he was actually thinking about pretending to be an altruistic something, just so that he could hopefully get some nookie.

Rising from his seat, he closed and locked the front and back doors before walking upstairs. After having a quick shower he crawled into bed and looked up at the ceiling. He was not going to make any kind of shabby excuses to see Lois, he'd drop in to check if she was alright, but he was going to keep his hands to himself, and his eyes in his head. He was a grown man who could go without for a few days. Hell he usually went without for months at a time, so a few days should be a cake walk.

His eyes closed, and immediately visions of Lois as she'd looked this morning swirled behind the lids. Her voluptuous breasts, full and softly swaying with their movements, the nipples hard little points jutting upwards, her torso glistening with perspiration, the way she'd tasted, felt, looked...shit!

When she was lying naked beside him, visions had danced in his head of pouring warm honey over her body, spreading it around with only the lightest touches of his fingertips, then licking it off her. Lois' warm golden skin, and the sweet golden taste of honey would be a heady combination in his mouth. Swallowing heavily, he imaged dragging his tongue under the globes of her breasts, sucking at the fleshy softness, capturing a nipple with his teeth to allow his tongue to gently wash over it again and again until it became hard, inflexible. Cupping his hand around the plump mound, and rubbing his thumb over the stiffened nub, then enclosing it in his mouth to suck, then running his thumb over the point again, before once more encasing it in his mouth. While he was busy, the fingers of his other hand would continue to trail through the honey, spreading it over the neglected breast, plucking at and rolling the nipple, letting it know that his full attention would soon be coming. After which his mouth would continue trailing down her torso to her tummy; nibbling and sucking gently on her waist and hip bones, his fingers now stroking, rubbing and lazily moving within the soft flesh between her legs, absolutely drenched in her moisture, as his mouth continued to move downwards ever closer to glory.

Groaning out loud, he loosened his fist, and rubbed his hand over his chest, feeling his heart beating like a bass drum, and the pulse in another part of his anatomy throbbing just as heavily. Opening his eyes, he looked down and shook his head. Why, why, why didn't he do it? If he'd really tried he would have had the stamina for another go round this morning.

It had just been too long, that was the problem. Before Lois came back it had been months since he'd been a woman, and now that he'd gotten used to their twice daily romp sessions, missing out was making him crazy. He could go to Metropolis; it would only take him a minute to get there. He could call up one of the women he usually saw, spend a few hours rolling around, and with a bit of luck he might be able to sleep without thinking about sex, or more to the point; sex with Lois.

Tossing back the covers, he sat up, turned on the bedside light, opened the nightstand drawer, and pulled out his little book. Flipping from one page to another, he read the names and shook his head. None of them were suitable; Belinda giggled too much, very annoying. Karen was way too serious and looking to tie a man down, forget it. He just wasn't that into Robyn, so why on earth had he even bothered keeping her name in his book. Vicki was nice but she could be too nice at times, which really meant that she was just boring. Leanne's inane chatter drove him nuts, Jessica hardly said a word so he had to carry the conversation, and Candy; well her name said it all. Flipping to the last page, he saw the name Maggie and smiled; ok there was nothing wrong with her. Then again there might be and he just couldn't think what it was right this minute, but it would more than likely come to him if he went to see her, and by then he'd be stuck.

Tossing the book back into the drawer with a sigh, he turned off the light and lay down once again. When Lois left town after her holiday was over, he'd have to go out and meet a new bunch of women; the ones he knew presently weren't his type, even for a few hours of recreational adventure. It was a mystery how he hadn't noticed that before, he was usually observant about these things, but obviously he'd fallen down on the job somewhere because all he had were a bunch of names that he'd rather forget.

Rolling over he closed his eyes, Lois would be feeling better in a few days, so he'd wait; even if it half killed him he'd wait, but as soon as she was feeling up to par, he'd have her naked and under him, or maybe on top, sideways, from behind; oh yeah, they'd be doing it all. In fact they'd keep doing it until all that was left of them were two puddles of goo; no even better, one big puddle still joined.


	3. Chapter 3

Firstly, WARNING: If you've read anything I've written then you know that I don't usually have anything good to say about Lana, well this time is no different. If you do like her then you might not want to read this chapter, because the odds are good you'll be offended. So please turn away now, or don't complain later. Secondly, thank you for the feedback guys, it's always nice to hear that people are enjoying what I write.

Linda

***

**14****th**** June**

Clark lay beside Lois and wondered how long it would be before she got up, pointedly giving him the silent message that his company was no longer required.

He was sick of this, fed up of having sex with nothing afterwards. At first it had been great; if all Lois wanted was to roll around naked for a couple of hours without expecting anything in return then who was he to argue. It was almost a dream come true, and he figured that it had to be better than winning the lottery. Well it just went to show that dreams weren't all they were cracked up to be. It was now two weeks since Lois had come back, 14 days since their fling had started, yet nothing had changed, and he was sick to death of it.

The women he usually spent time with gave him more than their bodies, they actually talked to him. Ok, so they didn't talk about anything monumental, but they still conversed. They also went out to dinner, went to see a play, went to a concert, had coffee, they did something before hitting the sack together. Yes, they both knew that was on the agenda, and that was fine but hell bells, his only goal wasn't to get into their panties. He enjoyed feminine companionship, and was tired of not getting it from Lois.

He didn't want a deep and meaningful a relationship with her, he just wanted more than what they currently had. He wanted them to spend time together while they had their clothes on, wanted to get to know her, wanted her to show an interest in him and not just what he could do for her in bed; was that too damn much to ask for?

When she began to push herself up, he grasped her wrist gently and pulled her back down. Tangling one hand in her hair, he pressed his lips against hers softly, bit gently at her bottom lip then soothed the non-existent hurt with a swipe of his tongue. Rolling her underneath, he deepened the kiss, letting her up for air only momentarily before swooping forward and claiming her mouth with his once again until finally lifting clear, and opening his eyes.

"What was that for?" Lois asked uncomfortably puzzled.

"That was because we're always rushing."

"So?"

"So every time we have sex, we've barely finished when you start climbing out of bed." He remarked lightly.

"And, so, therefore?" She asked politely.

"And I just want to hold you for a little while, alright?"

"Why?"

"Because I just do." He lay down and kept her in the circle of his arms, stroking one hand over her back, to her bottom and thigh, up and down lazily in a slow unhurried rhythm.

"I have things to do." Lois reminded him pointedly.

"Your things will have to wait." Clark replied patiently and tipping up her chin proposed quietly "How about we go out for dinner tonight."

"What for?"

"Because I want us to; I come here twice a day, we have sex and that's it. I'd like it if we could go out and at least have a meal before I bring you back here to screw your brains out." He finished with a touch of impatience.

"I'm not interested in dating."

"I'm not asking you for a damn date Lois, I know that I don't have to cajole, coax or otherwise persuade you to let me into your bed, I just want us to go out for dinner." At the refusal in her eyes, he leant forward and settled his mouth lightly against hers "Dinner, that's all I'm asking for."

"Dinner, then sex and then you go home." She told him firmly.

He nodded, then quickly climbed out of bed to throw on his clothes before she could change her mind "We're going to eat at the Talon, the dress code is nicer than casual but not overly fancy ok?" She nodded, and bending down he pressed a hard kiss against her lips "I'll pick you up at 6."

After he was gone, Lois slipped on her robe then sat on the edge of the bed. Going out to dinner with Clark made her nervous, the only reason she'd said yes was because she knew that he wasn't going to give up until she gave in. However, she was more than a little tempted to call him later in the day with some fake excuse but didn't want him to know that she was being a coward.

It was only dinner, nothing more and nothing less. No doubt he felt like he should make the effort, and hey it was a free meal so....

With a smile she pushed up from the bed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast before making her way to the bathroom for a shower. She'd been asked to join a few of the ladies for lunch and gossip at the Thompson farm, but that was still several hours away, which gave her ample time to check out the few women's clothes shops in town, then get some groceries and come back to make a couple of phone calls before heading off to lunch.

***

_Six O'clock_

When Lois opened the door at his knock, Clark's eyes swept up and down as his mouth watered. He was used to seeing her in casual clothes or nothing at all, but this was....woah. The dress she was wearing was sexy as hell; halter topped showing just a hint of cleavage, clung lovingly in all the right places to her torso, before flaring out from the waist into a full flirty skirt that ended at the knees. His eyes moved down her long, long legs to the ridiculously flirty strappy high heeled shoes on her feet causing him to swallow hard at the pictures that ran rampant through his head. His eyes slowly roved back up again, taking in the partly upswept hair and the light makeup she was wearing, until he'd catalogued the entire enticing package she presented.

He knew the way that she was dressed wasn't what a woman would consider worthy of a fancy restaurant, but holy hell what would Lois look like all dolled up if this was just nicer than casual. He didn't know if she'd deliberately put on the nicest; not to mention sexiest but not quite casual dress that she owned hoping to kick start his libido so that he'd forget about dinner, but if that was her motive....hell if that was her motive she'd hit the right button. His hand reached out automatically, but was pulled back before it could touch and clearing his throat, he swept his arm towards the car sitting in the driveway "Ready?"

She nodded, grabbed her purse, and closed the door. When she stepped past him, he closed his eyes, and counted to ten slowly as the light fragrance of her perfume floated past his nostrils.

He was going to enjoy the dinner that he'd managed to coax her into, and stop thinking about hauling her back into the house, pressing her up against the wall and taking her standing up. Having her long beautiful legs wrapped tight around his hips, the dress bunched around his arms, the top pulled down so her breasts were free and open to his gaze and mouth, while he moved deep and hard inside her wet.....

"Clark are we going out for dinner or not?"

At the impatience in her voice he blew out a deep breath, swung around, and jammed his hand into his pocket for appearances sake "Yeah sorry my phone buzzed but when I checked, it was just a message from mom."

"If you need to go...."

"No it's nothing like that, she just texted me to say hello." He cut in smoothly. They were going to dinner, they'd chat pleasantly about this and that, he was going to keep his attention on Lois, and firmly out of the gutter. But when they came back here afterwards, all bet's were off. He was going to jump her bones at the first opportunity.

***

Lois slipped into the car, clipped on the seat belt and told her heart to stop galloping like a runaway horse. Shit, she'd never seen him dressed up; ok yeah ago years she had, but he'd been a kid then, and so had she. As she'd had zero interest in him romantically or sexually, she hadn't spent time thinking of how he looked, but now...now...gulp.

He wasn't wearing a tie, but the white open collared shirt, with the light grey sports jacket and the dark grey pants made her blatantly aware of just how good he looked with clothes on. As a boy Clark had been cute, but as a man he was so sinfully gorgeous it was just plain unfair. In his casual clothes, which was all that she'd seen him wearing in the past two weeks; he'd looked rough, ready and masculine; in short, attractive enough to jump start any woman's heart. This was just as bad, this made him look good enough to eat with a spoon.

If he'd turned up just once looking like this she'd...ok, he wouldn't have been dressed for long before she was tearing his clothes off. At least she didn't have to waste time making up excuses for getting her hands on him afterwards. As that was the motivating force in their non-relationship, he'd no doubt enjoy being her play toy, and she wouldn't even care if he smugly gave her any lip about it either.

When Clark slid into the car, the scent of his aftershave almost had her reaching for the door handle and informing him that her hunger wasn't for food. However, when he smiled at her, she smiled back, and nodded in appreciation at the soft music that was switched on. For now they were going out to dinner as he wanted, but afterwards they'd be returning to the house, and then she'd be getting what she wanted.

***

After being ushered into the Talon, Lois looked around and nodded in approval of the changes "I haven't been in here since coming back; when was it changed to a restaurant?"

"About three years ago, it's still a coffee shop/cafe but only until 5.30, then the seatings changed around and from 6 it's a restaurant." Clark kept his hand in the small of her back and directed her to a private table in the corner. They'd no sooner been seated than a waiter appeared with menus, filled their water glasses and asked if they cared for any drinks.

Rather than looking at the drinks menu, Lois titled her head enquiringly "Do you have Chardonnay?" At the waiters smiling nod "Then I'll just have a glass of that please."

"Make it two." Clark put in.

The waiter left and returned shortly afterwards with their drinks, before discreetly withdrawing to give them time alone, and peruse their menu's at leisure. Small talk was exchanged as each decided what to order, the waiter returned when Clark looked up and nodded, and after jotting down their requests, he stepped away with a smile.

Looking around the room once again, Lois shook her head amazed "This is really nice, so far the service appears to be first class, and the ambiance is lovely; altogether this place is like an oasis in the middle of the dessert." At his grin, her brows quirked up in amusement "But I imagine if Lana was dead that she'd be turning in her grave since it doesn't look anything like it did in her day."

"Well as Lana doesn't own the Talon and never did, what she thinks is immaterial." Clark replied matter of fact.

"It seems strange to hear that kind of remark coming from you." She told him lightly picking up her wine to sip.

"Lois, if I gave a flying fig about Lana, would I have spent the past two weeks sleeping with you?" Clark asked rhetorically and was surprised by her response.

"Yes." She replied promptly and at his lifted brows, shrugged casually "You're a man, I'm a woman, and we have sex. We're both old enough to understand that you don't have to like, love or care two damns about someone to crawl into bed with them; so yes."

He nodded minimally "True, but Lana's history, ancient history." He leant forward and whispered "The first time she came flouncing back expecting my arms to be open and waiting for her, I told her to fuck off."

She let out a little snorting laugh and asked low voiced "Was that before you fucked her or afterwards?"

"I didn't fuck her at all." He smilingly answered keeping his voice low "As you so bluntly but accurately pointed out your first day back, Lana had no sooner gotten divorced then she was shacked up with me at the farm, and took off a few months afterwards. Well one day about 6 months later I opened the door and there she was, all smiles anticipating that I was going to be overjoyed to see her. Her smile dimmed somewhat when I told her to buzz off. When she began to talk, I told her to spare me the dialogue as I'd no doubt heard it all before, and couldn't stomach listening to it again, then I said cheerio and closed the door in her face." He shook his head in disbelief "Instead of getting the message, she thought that I was miffed and wanted to punish her for leaving, but figured that I'd cave since I must have been secretly thrilled that she'd decided to come sashaying back into my life."

"Gee I wonder where she could have gotten that impression from." Lois replied tongue in cheek.

"Shut up." Clark retorted swiftly.

She giggled softly "Ok, well I imagine that regardless of what she thought, she was still surprised to get that kind of reception from you."

"Very, but I'd say that she was even more surprised when she got tired of waiting for me to go running after her, and walked into the house later that night as if she owned the place, only to find that I was entertaining someone else." Lois grinned and waved her hand for more. He searched for a way to put the politest spin on it and decided to just go with the truth "When Lana first left I felt....a number of different things, but it only took a couple of months for it to sink in that she hardly ever made me happy. She made me horny, but it's not the same thing as you know." Lois nodded silently at his winged brow "Well at 20 it was hard for me to distinguish the difference between the two, and when I did, it was a hell of a revelation for me to swallow. However, once I did that, I also had to admit that Lana wasn't the fun hot girl I'd previously thought her to be. The hot I couldn't deny, but fun! Who the hell was I kidding? My brain had obviously shorted out at some point to ever put her name, and that word in the same sentence." He took a sip of wine and gestured with his glass "Lana wasn't a cheerful person. She had moments of good humour, but they didn't last for long before she was upset, distressed or pissed off about something. As I'd built my life around her happiness and that was in short supply, my disposition tended to be a mirror image of hers. Finally admitting _**that**_ was really how she made me feel, was just the incentive I needed to decide it was way past time that I put her behind me, and get a life."

Lois' lips lifted in a half smile, but she didn't interrupt. Clark took a deep breath and continued softly "I started working at the Planet, and being in the city meant there was an abundance of available women, so I began to date. Nothing much, just a coffee here or there, going to the movies that kind of thing, but I discovered that it was very easy to enjoy another woman's company, especially since I no longer had to waste time on all hearts and flowers bullshit that I'd exhausted myself with previously. However, that night was my first foray of getting into the game since the last time that I'd slept with Lana, and that was a long time before she even left, so I'm sure you can imagine that I wasn't in the mood for visitors..." Lois nodded feelingly; Clark inclined his head "Yeah, so when she burst into the house, I excused myself to my date, took Lana aside and told her in no uncertain terms that she was most decidedly in the way, then asked her to leave."

"And did she?"

"She said that she wanted us to talk." Lois slapped a hand against her mouth but the chortle of laughter popped out, he nodded his head confounded "Can you believe it? I was hoping to get some for the first time in I don't know how long, and was well on the way to achieving my dream, and Lana really thought that I'd prefer to listen to more of her insipid drivel."

"I can believe it, but go on what happened." She scooted forward eagerly.

He leant forward further and grinned "That was when I told her to fuck off."

Lois threw her head back in laughter "I wish that I'd been there to see it..." Quickly holding up her hand she waved it back and forth "No, no I don't, cause then you would have told me to get lost too."

"If you had been there, I would have gotten rid of both Lana and the lady and kept you." He informed her readily, before sitting back in his seat.

"So did you end up talking to her?"

"Not that night, I had plans and I sure as hell wasn't going to let her derail them." He replied forthright, before lifting his eyes heavenward "But yeah, she came back the next day dressed up to the nines, gave me a song and dance about how sorry she was for skipping out. She said that even though it hurt her to leave, she'd done it to get some perspective for both our sakes. Apparently she was confused and couldn't talk to me about it because I just wouldn't understand. She loved me but wasn't sure if she was ready to get into another relationship so soon after being divorced. However, now that she'd had time to think about it, she knew that us being together could never be a mistake, and this had given her the courage to come back, ready to commit to us 100 percent and blah blah."

At the look on Lois face, Clark's lips quirked. Taking a sip of his drink he finished dryly "When she finally ran down, I said that her leaving had given me a chance to get some perspective of my own, and not only did I not love her, but I didn't want her back either." He rolled his eyes and revealed in a voice of disdain "That of course had her talking like Oprah, saying that I was just trying to mask the pain of her abandonment etc. When I had enough of that, I told her to spare me the amateur psychobabble as I'd heard enough of that shit from her over the years, but as I was no longer interested in getting into her panties, I no longer had to put up with it. So now that we'd both had our say it was time for her to depart."

"And she left; just like that?" Lois asked sceptically.

"Nope, she tried to make me salivate to bed her. She was wearing some slinky little number, cut up to here and down to there, kissed me, rubbed herself up against me, and when I was bored with the whole thing, I just pushed her away. Then I reminded her that she didn't have anything I hadn't seen before, that I'd done her more than once and had no intention of repeating the experience." He concluded lifting his glass in a toast.

"I'm surprised that she didn't cry." Lois remarked with a light touch of sarcasm.

Clark's brows rose "Oh she did, the waterworks were turned on but they dried up real fast when I laughed instead of falling to my knees to her in supplication." His lips lifted in a lopsided smile "I know how much Lana hates people laughing at her, so gotta admit that I really enjoyed doing it."

She nodded in understanding "The experts recommend discussing things to get closure, but that doesn't always work for me. If an ex has screwed me around, I get a much bigger rush from telling them where to shove it and how far up, than I do from chatting with them."

"Well I used to think that having a long discussion on all the why's and wherefores in your relationship was necessary to get understanding or closure, but now agree that just telling the ex from hell to go back there is much more therapeutic. You save time, and spare yourself from listening to anymore of their crap." Clark agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, and going for the jugular on their weak spots may be petty, but it really does feel good doesn't it?" Lois smilingly raised her glass in salute and sipped.

He grinned and raised his glass in turn before sipping at the contents "Yep, and believe me it was worth listening to Lana's twaddle once again, just to see her almost foam at the mouth when I laughed at her performance."

"Has she tried to get you back since then?"

"Every now and then she turns up, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's after she's dumped or been dumped by someone, but she doesn't come sniffing around directly. I think Lana's gotten the message that a full frontal assault from her, will lead to an even more direct rebuff on my behalf and rather than risk it, she just tries the same kind of games she did when we were younger, but when I don't play along, she takes herself off." His shoulders lifted in a half shrug "She did try again about two months after the first time. Somehow she came to the conclusion that I needed time to ponder over the huge mistake I'd made in not begging her to stay previously, so from the goodness of her heart, she decided to give me another chance." He paused to sip his drink as his smile became wicked "She didn't seem to appreciate it when I said thanks but no. I'd already tempted fate more than enough, and didn't want to do so again. So far I'd come out of my experience with her relatively intact, but didn't want to push my luck because god only knows what would happen if I was dense enough to take up with her again. When she asked me to explain what I meant; I said that unlike all of her ex-boyfriends and her ex-husband, I was just grateful to still be alive, still of sound mind, nor turned evil; which was more than could be said for all those other poor bastards who hadn't been so fortunate after being exposed to her for any length of time."

Lois coughed out her sip of wine and quickly pressed the napkin to her mouth, while her shoulders shook silently with laugher. When her mirth had calmed down, she tapped her glass against his "So how'd it feel saying all that stuff to her?"

He sipped and thought for a moment "Liberating; taking back the power that I'd given her felt good, it was better than sex."

"Don't get carried away."

"I didn't say sex with you." He smiled into his glass.

Seeing the waiter approaching with their dinners, conversation ceased, and after trying the first mouthful, Lois smiled in delight "Ok, I'll give this place top billing straight off. When I usually ask for steak well done, it either comes back pink in the middle or tough as old boots, so I'm pleasantly surprised." Her brows lifted inquisitively "I imagine a restaurant is a handy thing to have in Smallville for people who want to take their dates out to dinner, but don't want to drive all the way to Metropolis just for a nice meal."

Clark nodded in agreement "Yeah, the restaurant took off almost from the first because it was an untapped market in this town. As you know there were cafes where you could get a light meal or similar during the day, but not an actual restaurant. Now there are two other small ones as well, but the Talon's still the most popular."

"I'm surprised the name wasn't changed though."

"No matter what name it was given, everyone would still refer to it as the Talon, so there was no point in changing it." He replied logically.

After that the conversation petered out to small talk while their meals were eaten, and picked up again while enjoying their after dinner espressos.

"So what have you been doing in the 15 years since you left?"

Lois shrugged casually "Travelling."

"You didn't find one place that you wanted to put down roots and stay?" He asked curiously.

"Nope, I like moving around so I do." She smiled and lifted her brows in return "You're obviously a homebody since you still live here, but from what you said before I gather that you lived or worked in Metropolis for a while."

"I worked there but lived here and commuted every day. As it's a three hour drive each way I don't have to tell you what a pain in the ass it was; god knows what I was thinking." He smiled, knowing that for him the commute took less than a minute, but for Lois the drive must have been a torturous. When she rolled her eyes feelingly, he nodded in accord "I only worked at The Planet for a year, and found that journalism wasn't my life's goal, but I'm still glad that I gave it a go. Anyway, as there was nothing else that really interested me, I decided to give farming a serious try, and found that I loved it." He smiled lopsided "When I was a kid, I couldn't understand why dad enjoyed the life but now I do, and I was incredibly lucky. Unlike a lot of people I didn't have to go far to find my dreams, they were right in front of me all along. I just had to open my eyes to recognise them, then reach out and hold on tight, which I did." He looked at her in curiosity "What about you, while working at the Inquisitor you seemed to have caught the journalism bug, are you still in that field?"

She shook her head "No, I gave up journalism shortly after leaving Smallville, and have no desire to get back into it again." She sipped the coffee to buy some time while choosing her next words with care "When I first left I was only going to be gone for a month or two, but as you know life happens, plans change, and being away reminded me that I'd never intended to put down roots here in the first place, so I didn't come back. Instead I began to travel and soon discovered that I didn't want to stay put in any one place for long. About a year later I discovered a love of sewing, and now I'm the co-owner of a fairly successful craft store in San Francisco."

"I never would have pegged you as a seamstress." Clark put in surprised, sipping his coffee in turn.

She laughed lightly and shook her head "I'm not a seamstress, but honesty does compel me to say that I could be if I wanted to. I've made a few outfits for my friends, made my sister's wedding dress, and make most of my own clothes, but it's not my occupation. My job is really just me roaming around the country, giving free reign to my wanderlust while meeting up with artists we've already got on the books, and scouting out any quality merchandise, or local hidden talent whose work we can further represent to sell in our shop."

His eyes roved over the top of her outfit which he could see from the waist up "Did you make the dress that you're wearing?" At her nod, he lifted his cup in salute "Then congratulations, you do good work."

"Thank you, but I didn't design it, just sewed it." Lois replied truthfully "I saw a picture in a magazine that I liked, so I copied it, but designing is not one of my talents."

"It's still beautiful, and copy or not, it doesn't detract from your talent; especially since you made it just from seeing a picture." He refuted softly.

She smiled in pleasure "Thanks again, anyway changing the subject how's your mom?"

He rolled his eyes "In hog heaven, right now she's travelling around visiting old college friends and having a whale of a time."

"That sounds nice."

"Yeah, she's actually away from home more often than not these days, but she loves travelling all over and that's what matters." Clark smiled fondly.

"Well I can understand that, having itchy feet myself." She replied promptly.

They stayed for a little while longer, chatting about inconsequential things before leaving. The silence in the car was comfortable, relaxed. After pulling into the driveway, he began to climb out but stopped to turn back at Lois voice.

"Um Clark...."

"Yeah."

"I just realised that we need to go back."

"Why?"

"Because we left without paying."

His mouth curled "I know the owner so it'll be alright."

At the tone in his voice, she searched his face before nodding in comprehension "You're the owner?" She asked rhetorically.

"Mom and I are the owners." He corrected smoothly.

"Well then congratulations, that was a very nice meal." She returned readily.

"Thank you, but I didn't actually cook it, just ordered it." He replied borrowing her words from earlier.

"Smart ass."

Seeing the humorous cast to her face, he grinned and climbed out of the car, then stepped around to help her out of the vehicle.

After following Lois into the house and through to the bedroom, Clark wondered if he was going nuts. Earlier in the evening he'd promised himself that he'd jump her as soon as they got back to the house, but now realised that sex wasn't his priority after all. Yeah it was right up there and they would, but right at this moment he didn't want to lose the companionable momentum they'd established in the restaurant.

He watched silently as she pulled the pins out of her hair, then reached for the zipper of her dress "Lois..." She turned around at his call "We don't have to go at each other right now."

Her hands dropped and she nodded "Ok, well then thanks for dinner and I'll see you tomorrow." When she took a step towards the door, he likewise took a step blocking her way "What's going on?"

"I meant that we could just sit and talk or listen to music for a short while before we hit the sheets, not that I was getting ready to fly out the door right this minute." He replied patiently.

She frowned and shook her head "Talk, we talked at dinner, what more is there to talk about?"

"I'm sure we can think of something." When her frown grew deeper, he sighed "It's a nice night, how about we just sit outside and have a cup of coffee, or do absolutely nothing just for the hell of it."

"We talked with more civilly tonight than we did years ago, so we've probably reached our limit for now. We just had an espresso at the restaurant so I'm not in the mood for another and don't imagine that you are either, and doing nothing doesn't appeal to me, so either we have sex or you go home." She replied candidly.

He swore viciously under his breath and nodded once "Fine then we'll have sex." He stepped forward, tugged her into his arms and claimed her mouth with his. Instantaneously the fire caught, clothes were removed with alacrity, and then they were falling on the bed. They rolled over the covers, skin sliding against skin, soft feminine curves tangling with hard masculine muscle, as hands swept over each other and their mouths stayed fused.

In the aftermath, Clark moved to lie at her side and let out a deep sigh "Hell Lois, I think I'm addicted to your body."

She stretched voluptuously and shrugged "Well this kind of thing doesn't last for long before it burns itself out, so by the time I leave we'll be glad to see the back of each other."

"I heard talk in town that you rented the place for three months."

"You heard right."

"Then I guess we'll find out in three months time."

"Just over two actually; this is my second week here remember?"

He nodded then turned on his side and leant up "I wanna stay with you tonight."

"No." She replied simply.

"Why?"

"Because."

"So that's it; just dinner and sex."

"You knew that before we went out for dinner." She replied matter of fact.

"So I did; fine! I'll see you in the morning then." Swinging off the bed, he strode around the room and pulled on his clothes before slamming out the bedroom. A moment later he slammed back in, tugged her up into his arms to kiss her deeply, and after lifting his mouth from hers waited for her eyes to open "Tomorrow."

She nodded slightly, and with a last swift kiss he laid her back down and left.

***

While driving back to the farm Clark's temper wound higher. He'd thought foolishly their repartee at dinner would mean that Lois would actually start to see him as a person. He was an idiot. He was even more of an idiot because he didn't want her to get so comfortable that she'd start hearing wedding bells every time she saw him. He didn't know what he wanted; he only knew their 'just sex' arrangement became more unsatisfying the longer it went on. Swiping a hand down his face, he sighed heavily. The worst part was the sex itself wasn't unsatisfying; it was still as mouth wateringly fantastic as their first time. It was the aftermath, or more to the point, the lack of one that he was beginning to hate.

He'd had plenty of casual sex in his day, and had never found it lacking but the lack of anything more than sex with Lois was really getting on his nerves.

He didn't waste time searching for his one true love, hell he didn't even believe in that crap anymore. Lana had cured him of all the foolish romantic nonsense that had been stuffed in his head years ago. Being served her hot and cold treatment had finally gotten through his thick skull where words never had. As he'd told Lois earlier, when Lana walked out, he'd taken a good hard look at her, him, their relationship in total and had come to a number of discoveries. The most alarming of which was that if he had a wife, girlfriend or partner, then he'd be subjected to their shit on a daily basis. That had frightened him more than the thought of being alone ever had.

Once that bombshell exploded, and ricocheted through his brain making him eternally grateful that he was single, he'd never given serious thought to searching for Miss Right ever again. He was now also old enough to know if a person found someone they were happy with, then their chances of success in the marriage stakes were just as good as those who believed they'd found their soul mate He was a 34 year old man who'd been around the block so often it was a wonder that he hadn't worn a path in the pavement, and he didn't want to be tied down, nor did he intend to give any woman the opportunity of putting a ring through his nose. He'd been happy going it solo for years, making do with brief liaisons whenever he got the itch. That way he still got the sex, the companionship and the company of the feminine kind for a few hours, without having to put up with them on a permanent basis.

Now that Lois was back, he got the sex, but not much of the companionship or company that he usually enjoyed. He wasn't asking for her hand in marriage, he wasn't asking her to be his significant other, but he didn't think it was asking too much for her to damn well pretend to suffer through his company for a few hours while they were sleeping.

Pulling up in front of the farmhouse, he slammed out of the truck, into the house and up the stairs to his bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled out his address book and flipped to the last page before picking up his phone and pressing the digits required.

"Hello." At the sound of the voice on the other end, his lips curved.

"Hi Maggie; it's Clark."

"Well hey stranger, it's been a while." She drawled teasingly.

"Too long a while; are you free tomorrow night?"

"For you; I'll say yes."

"Great, so how about we go out for dinner or a movie; whatever you feel like."

"How about we have dinner; then come back to my place afterwards and listen to music while curling up on the couch together; just you and me. How does that sound?"

"That sounds perfect." He smiled in return.

"I think so too, and I'm definitely looking forward to it." She giggled softly "What time?"

"Is 6.30 ok?"

"That's perfect, I'll see you then."

He said goodbye, hung up and threw the phone down. Maggie had always been good company, very accommodating, and would be more than happy to let him stay the whole damned night with her.

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he sighed heavily, and stepped into the bathroom for a quick shower before retreating to bed.

He was doing nothing wrong. Lois didn't own him, and had no say so on what he did, or who he did it with. More than likely she'd be gratified to get a break from him tomorrow night.

He'd tell her in the morning not to expect him and that would be that.

***

After having a nice long shower and donning a nightdress, Lois retreated to the lounge room, switched on some music and taking a seat on the couch, picked up her needlework. The dinner had been lovely, it was really quite amazing to think she and Clark could talk to each other without getting snarky or impatient. She'd thought unless they were in bed, they'd have little to nothing in common and even less to talk about, but she'd been proven wrong. The conversation hadn't flagged once, she'd enjoyed his company, and had to admit that Clark Kent could be an incredibly charming man with little effort, and that scared her.

A week ago while dozing off to sleep she'd had a flash of her and Clark looking at each other with something more than lust. At the time she'd been confused but put it down to an aberration, one that wouldn't be repeated. But she'd had another flash only yesterday, and this time the look in his eyes and on her face, had caused her stomach to quiver.

The first day that she'd seen Clark in the street, she knew they were going to be lovers. She'd tried to fight against it even knowing that it was a useless, but figured after the deed was done the flashes would stop. They'd always stopped once she gave into the inevitability of them, but this was the third time now that she'd seen pictures of her and Clark, and with each one they seemed to become just that little bit more loving.

She'd found out the hard way that men were uncomfortable having a relationship with a woman who could read their minds if she wanted to. She never did, that was a boundary that she didn't cross but once they knew that she could, it was all over except for the goodbyes. Just because she could read their minds, they became suspicious and refused to believe that she didn't. Things became awkward, fingers began to point, and excuses were made for why the relationship wasn't working and they had to walk away, or why they were unfaithful. They blamed her for it, which she supposed made sense. After all it was easier to blame someone else than to admit that you were just lying cheating dirt-bag, or didn't have it in you to love someone who was different.

She'd tried three times, and although she wasn't sorry the relationships had ended; who the hell could be sorry considering the assholes that she seemed to attract, at least she'd learnt her lesson. Yeah, she'd learnt it the hard way, but she'd learnt it all the same. Long term anything was out. She now flew solo and was content doing so. Relationships were only for fun and of short duration, they never reached the stage where she was required to open up and spill her guts about the things that went on in her head. If things started to get serious, if the man began making noises about taking things to the next level, she walked away before giving them an excuse to do so.

She didn't know if Clark would be like the others or not, but had no intention of taking the chance and finding out. Maybe the flashes of them were just a quirk, a lapse, an aberration, maybe they weren't, but as she was only going to be in Smallville for a short while, then it wasn't important.

The dinner had been nice, he'd charmed her, but she didn't want to be charmed. Keeping her distance may be cowardly, but it was better than continuing to trust in the faint hope that the next time she'd meet someone halfway decent who wouldn't trample on her heart.

***

_Next Day _

After he was dressed, Clark turned and watched Lois shrug into her robe "I won't be coming tonight so I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok."

"Oh I can tell that you're going to miss me dreadfully." He replied sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes in return "Well what exactly did you expect me to say?"

"Nothing." He followed her to the front door, stepped outside then quickly turned around "So what will you be doing?"

"When?"

"Tonight."

"Why do you wanna know?"

"I'm just asking."

"Well why don't you tell me what you'll be doing, and then I'll share confidences with you." She finished politely.

He shook his head exasperated "Why is it that having a simple conversation with you feels like a wrestling match Lois?"

She smiled and shrugged unconcerned.

Stepping forward he pressed a swift kiss to her lips "See you tomorrow."

"Uh huh."

Ignoring the churning in his gut, he waved and left.

Closing the door after he left, Lois let out the smirk that she'd held back. Why was it that men figured they were free to tomcat around, but still insisted on fishing for information on a woman's nocturnal activities?

Contrary to his less than subtle attempts to find out if she was going to make full use of her free night to hook up with someone else, that wasn't even on her agenda. She'd never used sex as a silly game of one upmanship and didn't intend to start now. If Clark wanted to make hay with another woman tonight then he was free to do so. They had no ties binding them together, so more power to him.

As for her, she was going to pamper herself from head to toe. Manicure, pedicure, facial, deep conditioner in her hair, luxury bath and exfoliating her skin, soak and massage her feet etc, etc. She tended to give herself the works once a month anyway, so as her time was exclusively her own tonight, then that's what she was going to do and smiled in anticipation.

She'd get some yummy food, some wine and make a night of it.

***

At 3 o'clock, Clark returned to the farm house, had a shower, dressed and soon afterwards was on the road. He could have flown to Metropolis, it'd be faster and not feel so restrictive, but since he lived in Smallville then explaining how he got to the city without a vehicle was a headache that wasn't worth the hassle.

He had a pretty good idea that Lois knew he was seeing someone else tonight, and as she hadn't made the slightest bit of a fuss, she obviously didn't care. More than likely she'd be the first one to tell him to go for his life because he was doing nothing wrong.

The only reason he felt funny about this date was because he'd spent more time with Lois in the past two weeks, than he had with any woman for years. He never made it a habit of seeing the same woman day after day, not even platonically. That was the safest way to ensure they didn't get any ideas that he was trying to cultivate a relationship, or accuse him of using them for sex without wanting to commit.

Commitment was a big thing for women. Their feminine minds tended to latch onto any little bit of evidence that could constitute deep feelings were developing, and before you knew it they wanted to talk about where the relationship was going, and where you saw them in 10 years time. If you couldn't get out of that one in a hurry, they then brought out the big guns. They wanted you to meet their parents, their friends, their kids, their freaking poodle, until the only thing on your mind was running as far and fast as you could in the opposite direction. So actually this date was a good idea. Lois didn't care now, but at some point she might get ideas about putting a leash on him, so this date should give her pause and second thoughts. It was really the kindest way for her to realise that the when it came to love and commitment, he was a bad bet.

Switching on the music he tapped his fingers to the beat, and chewed his lip. That made him sound like a player, and a conceited one at that, but he wasn't. He was just a single man who was going on a date with a single woman, end of story. Lois hadn't objected, Maggie knew the score, and Lois hadn't objected. He was doing nothing wrong.

Feeling better, he turned the music up higher and kept his foot on the accelerator. After finding a parking garage, he walked to Maggie's apartment and when she opened the door at his knock, his eyes roved up and down while his lips curved in approval. She looked beautiful, her dress showed her figure to perfection, and her makeup and hair was flawless. Any man with red blood running in his veins would be more than happy to spend the evening with her.

When she held the door open and stepped back, he stepped forward and bending down pressed his lips against hers. Feeling the tip of her tongue running along the seam of his lips, he opened his mouth and the kiss deepened. Coming up for air a few minutes later, she wiped his lip with the tip of her finger and smiled "This colour doesn't suit you."

He smiled back, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his mouth. "But it does suit you." When she turned to make repairs, he looked at his handkerchief before pushing it into his pocket. She was right, the colour didn't suit him; funny but he'd never thought that when he found Lois' lipstick on his shirt collars. He usually smiled and remembered what they'd been doing for the lipstick to get there in the first place.

"Ready."

At the sound of Maggies voice, Clark smiled and nodded.

Closing her apartment door, she linked her arm through his and smiled "So where are you taking me."

"The Rainbow Room."

***

Lois lay back in the scented water, picked up the glass of wine sitting on the rim, sipped and sighed. God this was wonderful; she'd already taken care of the facial, her hair was all glooped up with stuff that didn't smell heavenly but would certainly keep it healthy and shiny, and although she still had lots to do before the night was through, for now it was relaxation time. Sure it was summer so it was a bit hot for a warm bath, but who cared. The aromatherapy bath salts smelt divine, and by the time she was done, her skin would feel as soft as baby's butt.

Sipping the wine lazily until it was finished, she placed the empty glass on the floor, wiggled to get more comfortable and closed her eyes. She'd get out in 30 minutes, nah, she'd wait until the water cooled. Then she'd move onto the next step in her program, dinner.

***

"So how have you been Maggie?"

"Good as always, you?"

"Busy."

She laughed lightly "I'm always good and you're always busy."

He smiled as his eyes roamed around the restaurant. This was a nice place, the ambiance was romantic, the music muted enough not to disturb conversation, and his date beautiful.

Taking a surreptitious peek at his watch, Clark noted it was just on 7 o'clock and wondered what Lois was doing. Normally he'd be with her right now, of course as soon as they were finished she'd kick him out, and it wasn't like he'd get any kind of conversation or invitation out of her to stay; that was something he couldn't say about his date. So far the conversation with Maggie had been great, ok not great but good, well it was alright, but at least it was communication. He said something, and she reciprocated showing some interest in what he was saying. And her manner not to mention her choice of outfit was invitation enough to let him know that she found him attractive and wanted him around. Tonight he was getting conversation, invitation, sex and a warm body to sleep with.

Admittedly the sex wouldn't be as good as it was with Lois, hell it wouldn't even come close to being in the same sphere, but he'd never found it lacking before and he'd still have a very fetching lady to wake up with in the morning....oh shit! He was going to miss out on sex with Lois both tonight and tomorrow morning. Hell, he didn't even think of that. She was only going to be in Smallville for the summer and....

"Clark.... Clark!"

At the call of his name, he looked up and noted the not so happy expression on his dates face "Sorry Maggie, what were you saying."

She shook her head impatiently "Never mind that, I've been calling your name for the past few minutes; what's going on?"

"Going on; nothing's going on, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Maggie asked mischievously.

"About making sure to check for slugs in the corn crop tomorrow." He replied quickly, then groaned silently when the smile congealed on her face at his less than flattering response.

"Slugs! You're thinking about slugs." She looked at him in patent disbelief "Clark, I am wearing a dress that if I do say so myself, shows all my assets to their best advantage. I'm also wearing perfume that according to the add campaign, drives men wild, and you're thinking about slugs."

He coughed uncomfortably as the image of Lois sleeping in the hammock rose unbidden in his mind's eye. God, she'd looked sexy as hell wearing a pair of well worn jean shorts with a shirt tied at her waist. He'd seen just a peek of plump ripe bosom and lacy bra, she'd actually been more covered up than his date was now, and yet one glimpse of her had made his jeans uncomfortably tight. Maggie's perfume was supposed to drive men wild, well he'd barely noticed it, but the perfume Lois wore last night had almost driven him to his knees. The scent had still been on his shirt this morning and.....

At the pointed clearing of a throat, he silently berated himself to concentrate.

Sending his date an abject smile of apology, Clark reached out and squeezed her hand "You look stunning Maggie, but then you always do."

She nodded hesitantly in return.

"If you forgive my lack of attention, I promise to make it up to you."

She smiled at him flirtatiously "When?"

At the invitation in her eyes, he smiled boldly in return "From this minute I'll forget about everything, and only concentrate on you."

"And..." She drawled teasingly.

Feeling her foot rub up and down his calf, he ran the tip of his tongue over his teeth and lowered his voice "And with your permission when I take you home, I'll make it up to you in any way you so desire."

She grinned and blew him a small kiss "I have a lot of desires."

"And I have the hankering, not to mention the whole night to fulfil them." He assured her softly.

She giggled softly and tweaked her finger in the come hither gesture. When he leant forward she whispered throatily "Well I have a fantastic memory, and I know that you've never let me down before, so you're forgiven."

Seeing the waiter approaching with their meals, Clark winked and smiled, then sat back in his seat determined to keep his mind on his date from this time forth as promised.

***

_Two hours later back at the apartment _

"Would you like a drink?" Maggie asked tossing her purse onto a chair and walking automatically to the drinks cabinet.

"Yeah, I'll have a beer if you've got one."

She nodded, waved at the couch, switched on the CD and smiled as the sound of light romantic music filled the air. Coming back a few minutes later with drinks in hand, she handed Clark his, then snuggled in beside him, and crossed her legs, surreptitiously allowing the hem of her dress to sneak up an inch higher.

"Thanks." After taking a long swallow of beer, he waited for her to sip the wine, before taking her glass and placing it on the coffee table with his, then turned back to take her in his arms. Lips pecked softly, one short press, then a longer one, longer again before mouths firmed and opened, and tongues began to stroke, meld, and duel with increasing purpose.

Her fingers slipped the buttons of his shirt open deftly, and at the touch of her hand stroking his chest, Clark smiled against her lips, tugged down the zipper of her dress, and ran his palm down her spine until his fingertips edged just under the edge of her panties. His hand on her waist began to slide up, just as hers moved down, but at the touch of her fingers on his zip, he jerked, let her go and got up to pace around the room.

"What's wrong?"

He came to a stop, ran his fingers through his hair roughly and tugged hard. He wished he knew what the hell was wrong with him. Quickly buttoning his shirt, he turned to face his date, and sighed heavily at the disappointment on her face "I'm sorry Maggie, but I just remembered that I can't stay."

"Why not, I thought...." She broke off, and pursed her lips "I won't be seeing you again will I?"

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean you have 'taken' written all over you. I could tell you were distracted all through dinner, even though you pretended not to be. And I know that you've never once thought of slugs when we've been together in the past, so putting it all together I figured you had someone else on your mind." She replied smiling faintly.

"It's nothing like that." Clark protested automatically, and dropped heavily onto the couch beside her. When she reached out, he automatically grabbed her hand and shook his head. At the wiggling of her fingers, he swore quietly under his breath, and let go of her hand "Sorry..."

"It's ok, but I think you've just proven it's exactly like that." She cut in with a smile.

"I really am sorry Maggie."

"Don't be; you're a good guy Clark Kent but all good things must come to an end. We had some fun times but it was never serious, so I'll survive." She laughed lightly then mock glared. "However, considering I spent an hour getting ready for dinner tonight, the least you could do is tell me that I looked good, and this time sound like you mean it."

He grinned in return "You look stunning, but I find it hard to believe you needed an hour to get ready. I just thought it was all natural."

She gurgled in laughter then leant over to peck his cheek "That's the sweetest bunch of bull a man has ever said to me." After patting his hand, she nodded at the front door "Well since you're not staying get out of here so that I can take off this uncomfortable underwear, and put on my sweatpants."

He threw his head back in laughter "Uncomfortable underwear."

"Let me tell you, some of the sexiest underwear is damned uncomfortable, but since it's only supposed to be worn for a very short time it's worth it." She smiled good natured before rising and leading him to the door.

***

While driving back to Smallville Clark thought about what Maggie said and knew that she was partly right, and partly wrong. He wasn't taken, not by Lois or any other woman, but had to concede that she had been on his mind tonight, even after he'd promised Maggie his full attention.

The problem was that even though his liaison with Lois was only casual, he'd felt like he was cheating and that's why he'd been so distracted and uncomfortable.

It was his own fault for beginning the routine of seeing her daily, but he hadn't been able to help himself. Lois was like molten lava in his hands, scorching hot, fiery and burning a path through his resistance; not that he'd resisted for longer than five seconds after seeing her lying in that hammock. Well she was only in town for a little over two months more, and the sex between them was too damned good to turn away from it. So until his thing for her was done, or her holiday was over; whichever came first, he wouldn't waste his time seeing anyone else. But once she left, he'd be back in the saddle again.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be seeing Maggie and that was a shame. They'd had a number of fun times together, but she deserved better than a man who couldn't stop thinking of another woman. Ah well, there were plenty of other fish in the sea, and it wasn't like he was restricted on where to find feminine companionship when he desired. Since he could fly the world was virtually his play ground, and he'd be getting back into when the summer was over.

And thinking about that, he'd also be making it clear to Lois that while they were involved, other men were off limits. After their thing had run its course they'd both be free, but until then if he was trapped by her, then she was going to be damned well trapped by him as well. He wouldn't put it like that since he could only imagine the connotations that she'd put on it. She'd think he was under her thumb, and that was bull; sexually he was, but that was all. As Lois had pointed out last night, these types of enthralments didn't last for long, so he'd be over it soon. Their....._relationship_ could be explained as simple economics; supply and demand. She had what he wanted, he had what she wanted and both parties were happy with the exchange. So he'd just make it clear that as he was more than satisfying her needs, there was no point in her looking around for a new supplier, and he'd further make it clear there was no room for negotiation.

Switching on the music, his fingers tapped to the beat as his lips curved upward. Looks like he had tomorrow morning free after all, he'd make it up to both of them for not seeing her tonight before he told her about their new arrangement.

***

_Next Day_

Clark lay beside Lois pulling much needed air into his lungs. Turning his head to the side, he watched as Lois' chest lifted and fell in time with the harshness of her breaths, and unable to resist, leant over to nuzzle at the nipple closest to his mouth. When the de-tumescent bud began to unfurl and harden once again, he tugged at it lightly with his teeth before rolling his tongue over and around it.

"Ummm...."

After swiping his tongue over it once more, he lifted his head and blew out a deep breath "We'll go again soon, I just have to get my second wind first."

"We've already gone three times." She replied dryly.

"Yeah and I haven't had enough." Slipping his arms around her waist, he rolled onto his back, taking her with him. Feeling her skin against his, her breasts plump and soft resting on his chest, Clark hummed deep in his throat. "I missed this last night."

"I'm sure the woman you were with, was very accommodating." Lois replied amused.

His brows rose "I figured you knew that I had a date, how?"

"It wasn't hard."

"Does it bother you?"

"No."

"I had a feeling you'd say that as well, but for your information we didn't do anything other than exchange a few kisses." At the disbelief on her face, he affirmed quietly "It's true."

"It doesn't matter if it's not; we're both free to see whoever we want to." She replied honestly.

"Not anymore." He refuted firmly before rolling her under him. Lifting up on his elbows he looked down at her "While we're involved, which is while you're here in Smallville, neither of us are going to be seeing anyone else."

She wiggled but didn't reply.

"Lois." When she looked at him with lifted brow, he shook his head. "I said..."

"I heard what you said but I'm not agreeing to it." She cut steadily "I didn't say anything about your date because what you do is your business; likewise what I do is mine."

"Oh, and do you have plans?" He asked silkily.

"Not at present, but if someone asks me out and I feel like saying yes, then I will." She shrugged carelessly.

"And how will you explain my presence? I imagine it will be pretty uncomfortable for your date to come and pick you up for dinner, only to find me here already." He retorted bluntly.

"If or when I have a date, I'll let you know not to come over."

His lips curled mockingly "How thoroughly polite of you."

"Thanks." She returned lightly.

"I was being sarcastic."

"I was ignoring it."

His face hardened "If you go out with anyone else I'll ruin your date Lois, and I won't feel bad for doing it."

"My god this is the classic male ego at work."

"Call it what you like, but I mean it. I'm not going to see other women, and I expect the same from you. While we're seeing each other, we will _**only**_ be seeing each other." He put in firmly and ignoring the fact that she once again didn't agree, he bent and took her mouth with his.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone, thank you for the feedback, I hope you all like the update.

Linda

***

**20****th**** June**

Clark pulled the truck out of the farm driveway onto the road to Smallville and began to hum happily along with the music. Since the morning four days ago when he'd told Lois they were only going to see each other while she was in Smallville, he'd tried to think of how to get her agreement without starting an argument. If that was what it came down to then he was ready for it, but he didn't want to go down that path unless his back was against the wall, and he had no other options. He could easily think of two scenarios that could result from the fallout of a shouting match, neither of which would put him in a good mood. The first was that Lois would crack the shits and refuse to give him sex, and the second was that she'd ask someone out just to piss him off.

Knowing that you caught more flies with honey than vinegar, he figured it was time to turn on the charm, and while he was at it, also put a stop to the 'just sex' rule that she'd put into place. A deep and meaningful relationship wasn't on his agenda, and he didn't intend to give her the impression that it was just to get what he wanted, but he wasn't averse to them becoming friends if it resulted in Lois seeing him as more than just her fuck buddy. He could take that, it was her indifference to him after they were done that he was going to put a stop to. As he had no intention of accepting defeat on any score, he'd tried to think of how to achieve his goal without turning it into a big deal, and the answer had come to him out of the blue 30 minutes ago while doing farm chores.

Firstly, he had to get Lois out to the farm. Secondly, wine and dine her, and thirdly, pull out all the stops in the bedroom until she was purring. That was only the first part of his plan, but it was also the most important. If he could achieve that, the rest would be easy.

He hadn't brought up the idea of Lois coming out to the farm before now because it simply hadn't occurred to him, neither had she taken any opportunity to even drop by for a visit. Since Lois appeared quite content with the status quo of their liaison, he thought it likely she was hoping to keep their association on neutral ground, thereby reducing the familiarity of the intimacy they shared. Well he was putting a stop to that as well. So getting her to the farm was going to be the hard part, but he was pretty confident that he'd found a way around that little problem.

Lois must have forgotten that he knew a few pertinent facts about her. One was that food had always been one of her pleasures, and the other was that she used to enjoy bossing him around. So offering her a home cooked meal made by yours truly, would be almost impossible for her to resist. A nice meal, followed by necking, which led to heavy petting then hours of intimacy, should hopefully wear her out enough that when he promised a full cooked breakfast on the morrow, she'd agree to stay the night.

He'd call her about 3pm, just a casual phone call; or even better a hurried call where he didn't have time to talk, but did have time to throw in the promise of dinner if she could just see her way clear to coming to the farm. And just to ensure that she didn't have the option of saying no, he'd quickly say 'great see you at six' then hang up, and turn of his phone so she couldn't call back later to cancel.

Actually, forget that, he had an even better and fail safe plan. He could call; pretend to sound urgently harassed and worried. One of the animals was hurt or sick and he didn't want to leave it in case anything happened. If that didn't arouse the feminine sympathy in Lois' heart, then he didn't know the first thing about women. Of course if he went with that idea, then he'd either have to find a hurt or sick animal, or just pretend the crisis was past when she arrived. Ah well he'd figure out the minor details later, but he was going to get her to the farm by hook or by crook.

As Lois had pointed out, they were both old enough to understand you didn't have to care about someone to jump into bed with them. However, by the same coin, they were also old enough to appreciate that what they did was their business. Right now no one knew about their liaison, it had been kept quiet simply because they only saw each other in the morning and at night, but it was way past time they came out of the closet so to speak. Since taking her to dinner at the Talon he'd received a few arch and playful queries on his intentions which he'd managed to brush off with a quip and smile, but as he'd decided they were only going to be seeing each other, then keeping their association under wraps was self defeating.

Not having a relationship was one thing, but he wanted more than sex, and since Lois wasn't inclined to give it, then he was going to have to coax it out of her. His plan of campaign was simple. Get her to sleep at the farm tonight then simply make it routine for them to sleep together every night, which would lead to them sharing time and companionship out of bed during the day; which in turn would result in everyone finding out about them. They had nothing to hide, and yeah gossip would run rampant with speculation that he was courting her, but gossip was just a part of small town life. When Lois left, everyone would realise his affiliation with her had only been of the most casual kind, but while she was here, it would be in his favour for other men to get the very clear and unmistakeable message 'hands off'.

As they were on his home turf, he was well aware that other men wouldn't ask Lois out if they thought she was taken as cutting in was against the gentlemanly code. So he'd be scoring high all the way down the line. He'd still be getting the sex, a bed partner every night, and the companionship that he liked. More importantly, he'd be cutting off any avenues Lois had of dating other men while she was holidaying in Smallville.

Once she realised that he was the only bee buzzing around, she'd also discover that he'd gotten his way after all and they were exclusive, so she might as well give in and get used to it. His lips twitched in anticipation of her reaction. She'd be indignant, she'd be mad; in fact she'd be so passionately pissed off that he'd just have to remind her why they'd gotten involved in the first place without being too smug about it. That would smooth down her ruffled feathers, and he wouldn't lose any ground.

Now he just had to figure out what to make for dinner. Something that was sexy with aphrodisiacal properties? Or a nice roast lamb with all the trimmings so she didn't go hungry, and after a suitable interval follow it up with some kind of sexy desert. Or maybe he could just cheat and order dinner from the Talon. Nah, he was actually looking forward to cooking it himself. He didn't usually bother since he was at the farm alone, so quite often just made do. Besides if he was going to lie about the reason she had to come out to the farm, then it was only fair that he at least didn't lie about cooking the dinner in the first place.

Smiling hugely, Clark turned down the main street, and seeing an empty parking space outside the bank, parked the truck, hopped out, and either called or waved hello to the greetings throw in his direction.

While walking towards the market, one part of his mind remained occupied with thoughts of food, while the other part absently greeted people in a way that wasn't dismissive or rude, but let them know that he didn't have time to stop and chat. Passing one shop then another and another, he continued on his way nodding and smiling before coming to an abrupt halt.

Backtracking slowly, he looked inside the shop window, saw them and felt his temper flare "I'll be painted blue and double damned."

He didn't realise that he'd spoken out loud, nor did he notice the startled look thrown in his direction at his words. Peering curiously in the window, Mavis Dixon's brow wrinkled for a moment then smoothed out when she spotted the couple. Now hadn't Clark given the impression that his dinner with Lois had been nothing more than one old friend welcoming another old friend back to town? Well it seemed that he wasn't happy to see his old friend enjoying the company of a handsome single man. Her eyes shot in his direction, noted that his hadn't shifted from the couple one iota, and swallowing back the chuckle, she remembered seeing that same look in her husband's eyes when he found her with....what was his name; oh who cared? He'd been a newcomer who hadn't stayed for long, but he'd been there long enough to help her unknowingly. At the time she'd be downhearted and fed up with George's vacillation. She'd wanted to marry him, but he seemed to be unsure of just what he wanted. So when the man had asked her on a date, she'd said yes. She'd been thoroughly bored until George came into the soda shop like gang busters, told the man that she was spoken for then all but carried her out to his car. On the drive back to her parent's farm, he'd informed her that she was his girl, and instead of asking her to marry him, had told her they were getting married; end of conversation.

Seeing the same look in Clark's eyes that was so reminiscent of George's in years past, caused her heart to lift in glee. They'd been happily married for 42 years, and god willing would have many more years together. Her eyes flicked to the side once again, and noted that not only was Clark still unaware that she was standing beside him, but his eyes were still fixed on the couple in the shop, and the sour expression on his face hadn't lifted one iota. Men bless them; sometimes they just didn't know. Almost dancing away, she wondered how long it would be before Clark Kent realised that he was sinking fast, and would soon be going under for the third time.

Unaware of anything but what his eyes were seeing, Clark continued to fume silently. Exactly what did Lois think she was doing with Neil Harper? Even if they'd only just run into each other and were doing nothing more than passing polite pleasantries, Neil could think he was a shoe in, and decide to ask her out on a date. Hadn't he told Lois they wouldn't be seeing anyone else, hadn't he been quite adamant about it in fact; yes he damned well had been, yet there she was! So he hadn't brought the subject up again; big deal. So he didn't want a relationship, that wasn't the damn point. The point was that she was leading Neil on, wasting the man's time and getting his hopes up for nothing when she was already involved with someone; him!

He felt both indignation and ire rise in unison. Stalking to the door, he pulled it open, and walked inside. He didn't bother waiting or asking for an invitation, just took a seat at their table as if the two of them had been expecting him all along.

"Hi Neil..." He greeted his friend then turned and gave her a tight smile "Lois."

She returned his greeting, sipped her coffee, and appeared to ignore his manner.

"Hey Clark, what are you doing in town?" Neil asked cheerfully.

"I have to pick up a few things at the market, but when I saw you both I thought that I'd join you for a coffee first." He returned blandly.

"Won't it look odd that you're having coffee in here, instead of at the Talon which you own?" Lois asked politely.

"Nope, it's always wise to keep an eye on the competition." He looked around before turning back to address the two "This place isn't bad, not as warmly hospitable as the Talon, but maybe their coffee will make up for that. I'll judge after trying some."

"It's delicious." Lois murmured dulcetly.

He turned and narrowed his eyes at her "So is the Talons."

She pursed her lips before smiling sweetly "My opinion is unbiased, but I doubt that yours will be."

Ignoring the dig, he encompassed them both in his next question "So did you two just happen to run into each other?"

"Nope, Neil called the house earlier and asked if I'd like to get together for a coffee, so I happily accepted." She replied smoothly.

"Is that right?" Clark asked affably, gritting his teeth at her reply.

"Yeah, I ran into Lois in town yesterday and we got to talking, so I thought that I'd give her a call and here we are." Neil grinned and turned his attention to his date "I've only seen you once or twice since your arrival, and then it was from a distance. So I was a lucky to run into you yesterday, giving me an excuse to break the ice."

"I'd just had coffee with Dean Marshall actually, so you caught me just before I was leaving to go home for a spell, before going onto Kate Fulchers house for lunch." She chuckled lightly.

"Dean yesterday and Neil today; my you are a busy lady." He put in tightly.

Neil laughed in amusement "A man's gotta be quick to catch this one Clark."

"Yes he does Neil; he certainly does." He replied with an abrupt head nod.

When the waitress came to their table, he ordered a large coffee, the other two declined refills, and small talk was made until his beverage was delivered a couple of minutes later.

"Clark..." At his name he turned to Lois with brows lifted in query "Neil and I were having coffee together."

He ignored the hint and lifted his mug "I know, and now all three of us are." He deliberately turned to his friend and began a long boring discourse on the different insecticides there were on the market that would be the kindest to crops. When he'd exhausted that topic, he went onto discuss seedcorn maggots and their larva. Sliding his eyes to the side, he noted that Lois no longer looked bored but disgusted, and found it hard to keep his lips from twitching.

Ten minutes later Lois wasn't sure her stomach could take much more. Pushing her chair back abruptly, she stood and smiled "I'm sorry guys but I have to be going."

"No, I'm sorry Lois; I completely hogged the conversation." Clark replied abjectly, and likewise stood.

"Yes you did." She returned ungraciously.

Neil pushed back his chair and stood as well "Um...well thanks for joining me for a coffee Lois."

"Thanks for asking." She smiled with genuine warmth.

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to...."

"Neil..." Clark cut in pleasantly.

"Yes..."

When his friend turned to him in question, he plastered a frown on his face then shook his head "Oh, I'm sorry I thought I saw someone waving at you from outside, but I was wrong."

When Neil turned to look out the window, Clark sent Lois a smug smile, and ignored the venomous look she threw in his direction. When his friend turned back, he shrugged apologetically, and quickly began to talk not giving the man a chance to address Lois again "Well this was nice wasn't it? Having coffee with friends is such a civilized way of getting to know each other."

"Usually I'd agree." Lois gritted out, and with a last smile to Neil, made her apologies and left.

At the disappointment on his friends face, Clark felt a twinge, but shook it off a moment later. Pulling out his wallet, he sighed heavily in fake remorse "I'm sorry Neil, I should have left straight away instead of hanging around." He pulled out a few bills and laid them on the table "Let me pay for the coffee's and cake you both had, but didn't even get to enjoy because I barged in so boorishly."

"No that's ok."

"It's the least I can do." With a last apologetic smile and slap to his friends shoulder, he walked out of the coffee shop, and made his way to the market.

After loading everything into the bed of the truck, he climbed behind the wheel, and drove towards the Murphy place. Obviously he hadn't made himself understood when he told Lois they wouldn't be seeing anyone but each other. Clearly it was a case of 'give the woman an inch and she takes a mile'. Because he hadn't pushed the issue, she'd mistakenly thought he'd given into her. Well it was high time that he cleared up any misconceptions she was currently labouring under. Since his nocturnal activities were curtailed due to the inconvenient desire he seemed to have developed for her alone, then Lois' wings were going to be likewise clipped. Not that he was going to tell her that, or he would but not in so many words. However, what he would be making abundantly clear; was that he wasn't into sharing.

At the sight of her car in the driveway, he smiled and pulled in behind it before killing the ignition. At least she was home and he didn't have to waste time waiting for her to arrive. Pushing open the truck door, Clark climbed out, walked up the stairs to the front porch and pressed the buzzer, holding his finger steadily on the bell until Lois wrenched open the door a few minutes later.

"What now?! Are you here to quiz me about the damn maggots you seemed to enjoy talking about while I was trying to eat my cake?" She demanded wrathfully.

He ignored the anger in her voice, the fire in her eyes and instead picked her up, planted his mouth on hers, then stepped into the house, and kicked the door closed.

While keeping their mouths locked, he let her down slowly, deliberately brushing her body all along the length of his then settled one hand on her jaw, while his other arm stayed heavily around her waist, with his hand sitting firmly in the middle of her back keeping her pressed tightly against him. Since she refused to open her mouth, he purposely taunted her by running the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips, and waited patiently. Another point in his favour was that he could hold his breath far longer than Lois could, so he was quite content to wait her out. As soon as her mouth opened to take a breath, his tongue thrust inside, stroking, plundering and clashing with hers in a battle of wills; until she finally melted against him.

Feeling the tide of desire wash over him, he wrenched his mouth clear before being pulled under, and opened his eyes, resisting the urge to take her mouth once again "There will be no more dates with other men." At his words, he saw the dazed look leave her eyes, to be replaced with defiance.

"I'll go out with anyone I please." She panted back harshly and pushed out of his arms.

"No you won't." He returned inflexibly.

"Yes I will."

"No....you...won't." He enunciated clearly.

"What the hell is your problem?" Lois asked seriously confused.

"My problem is that we're seeing each other; which means that other people of us are off limits for both of us." Clark informed her readily.

"We're sleeping together....no, we're just screwing each other so..." She began angrily.

"The not sleeping together part was your idea." He cut in abruptly.

"Yes it is, and I don't appreciate you playing the chauvinistic overlord. I'll go out with and or have sex with anyone I damned well like." Lois replied mutinously.

"No you won't." He repeated angrily.

"If you think that you can stop me from seeing whoever I want to, then obviously the sun's fried your brain while you've been looking for maggots in the corn." She returned disdainfully.

"I may not be able to stop you from going out with anyone else, but I do recall warning you that I'd ruin any dates you went on. I'm sure you now realise that I'm a man of my word." Her chin lifted in challenge and her mouth opened. Not giving her time to respond, he continued conversationally "While you're seeing me, you will ONLY be seeing me."

"Then obviously it's time to bring our little fling to an end. So goodbye, and don't let the door hit you on the way out." She waved at the door before turning away.

He stepped around and into her path "Don't waste either of our time by making statements that you know very well hold no water." Clark shook his head and smiled thinly "We have the have kind of chemistry that's not easily ignored Lois. We both tried the first day, and lasted for all of 10 seconds before going at each other in your backyard." He paused for a moment before admitting quietly "I want you so badly that I ache, and I know you feel the same way about me. So instead of fighting against it, we should just enjoy it while we can without trying to piss each other off."

She stared at him stubbornly for a minute, before letting out a heavy sigh of defeat "I do want you the same way, but I don't want to."

"Hell you think I'm comfortable with it; I'm not." He let out a short bark of laughter "I was quite happy not being tied in any way, shape or form to any one woman for even the shortest time before you came back."

Her lips twisted in resignation "Me too....for men I mean." She tacked on quickly.

"I know what you meant, but whether we like it or not is immaterial Lois, we're already involved. Yeah, it's only in the most liberal sense of the word, but we are just the same." He finished steadily.

She nodded minutely in agreement "True, why do you think this didn't happen years ago?"

"I think in a way it did, which is precisely why we purposely said or did things to get under each other's skin. It wasn't anywhere near full blown then like it is now, but the potential was there and I think subconsciously we knew it, we just didn't understand it." When she nodded in agreement, he slipped his arms around her waist and bent to brush his lips fleetingly with hers "You were more mature than I was, but being a girl in some part of your head you still equated sex with love. As for me, well..." He paused and shrugged "...I was about as worldly wise as John Boy Walton, and related sex to angels singing and blue birds dancing around."

She grinned at that and bobbed her head in accord "You really were a babe in the woods y'know."

"Guilty." He rolled his eyes feelingly before smirking back "But for all your big talk so were you in a way. Neither of us was ready for the kind of attraction we felt, and we should be grateful that it hadn't come to fruition back then, because we definitely weren't old enough to handle it."

"True, who knew that one day Clark junior would be my play-toy?" She asked with a cheeky laugh.

"Who knew the Lane twins that I managed to cop an eye-full at, would one day be mine?" He countered in the same tone.

She frowned lightly in confusion "I don't remember you seeing me naked back then."

"You don't huh? Well I remember coming to your apartment one day to ensure that you were alright, when you suddenly wrenched opened the bathroom door, saw me and just stood there in your birthday suit." He smiled hugely at the dawning comprehension in her face "You were only frozen for a few seconds, but it was long enough for me to get a gander at the most impressive pair of breasts I'd seen up until then." He paused for a beat "Actually they still are, and now I've seen enough to know."

"Why thank you; and I grew them all by myself." She smiled proudly, and at his light chuckle her smile grew. Cocking her head to the side, she quizzed lightly "Why didn't your eyes stay on my face, I thought you were supposed to be a gentleman."

He shrugged unconcerned "A gentleman's one thing, a fool is another. No teenage boy...hell no man with a pulse would miss the opportunity of getting a nice long gawk of a naked woman, when she's standing right in front of him."

She nodded in agreement "At least I tried not to ogle when I found you in the cornfield."

"But you did." He pointed out politely.

"But I did." She inclined her head in agreement.

"I think destiny was trying to tell us something when you found me naked, but as we didn't pay any attention, it tried to tell us again by letting me catch you naked."

"Yeah, it was trying to tell us that we were a pair of perverts?" She put in dryly.

"Well yeah but that goes without saying. More importantly it was yelling, 'get a good long look, cause one day this will all be yours'." He wiggled his brows lecherously.

Lois slapped a hand over her mouth but the giggle popped out "Don't even start; besides I seriously doubt that destiny would be that dirty minded."

He grinned unrepentant "Lo, I think we were always meant to have a hot and heavy relationship, it just took some growing up for us to realise it."

"I'm only going to be here for another ten weeks, so that's how long the relationship will last." She reminded him pointedly.

"I can live with that. I'm not looking for 'Miss Right' Lois; I'm more than happy making do with a succession of 'Miss Right Now's.'" He informed her truthfully.

She snorted lightly, tapping his chest with her forefinger "I like that one. When it comes to men I follow the adage 'why buy a hat when there's plenty of shade from tree to tree'."

His sniggered in appreciation "I like that one. We both enjoy sex and we're dynamite together so why shouldn't we enjoy it."

"With no hard feelings when I leave."

"None." He agreed honestly and pulled her to him for a quick hard kiss "But I do promise to act so wretchedly heartbroken when I wave bye-bye, that you won't even realise I'm going to be hot-footing it to Metropolis for a night of hot steamy sex once I'm rid of you."

"How sweet." She replied dryly, but her lips twitched in betrayal.

"Well I'm a gentleman, so I'll wait until your backs turned before getting it on with anyone else." He paused for a beat "However, I can assure you that whoever I hook up with will only be offering me comfort in your absence, but I'll still be thinking about you the whole time."

"Oh course." Lois replied politely.

His brow lifted in challenge "And how about you?"

"Well I'll need comfort as well."

"I guess you will at that; and there's nothing wrong with getting a little succour from strangers." He smiled agreeably.

"In the immortal words of Blanche DuBois; I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Lois quoted in a fake southern accent and fluttered her lashes playfully.

"Very nice." He let out a shout of laughter, then tilted his head and asked seriously "But while you're here, I'd really prefer it if we could have a real summer fling, as opposed to the buddy sex we've been indulging in."

She regarded him silently for a moment "A real summer fling, which entails what exactly?"

"We don't date anyone else, we stop trying to tick each other off, we spend time together when we're not in bed, and we sleep together at night; either at the farm or here." Clark replied swiftly.

She thought about it for a moment then put forward a counter offer "I'll agree to the first three, but not the last. I'm not comfortable sleeping with anyone."

He smiled crookedly "I promise not to hog the covers."

"Not the last." She repeated firmly.

Hearing the tone, he tilted his head in acquiescence "Ok, well we can shelve that until or unless you're comfortable with it, but since you said yes to the first three, will you at least stop kicking me out the second we're done?"

She pursed her lips then nodded "I can do that."

"Thank you." He inclined his head briefly. With their new understanding in place, Clark decided to abandon his plans of getting her to the farm using underhanded methods, and keeping one arm around her waist, turned towards the door "Now I really have to be going because I've got a lot of work to do at the farm, but I was hoping that you'd come over tonight, instead of making me be the one to haul my ass over here all the time. If you say yes, I'll cook dinner with my own two hands, and afterwards we can just relax for a little while before I have my wicked way with you."

"You're going to cook dinner?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Because I figure that your little heart would fill with glee, and consequently make you feel grateful just knowing that I, the guy you used to enjoy bossing around had spent time slaving over a hot stove cooking dinner for you." He replied without hesitation.

She nodded in understanding "Grateful enough that I'll feel frisky, and want to give you a great big fat reward afterwards, correct?"

"Correct." He confirmed unembarrassed.

"And what if I decide to eat and run?"

He leant down and whispered "I'll also make desert."

Lois choked back the snicker "Something chocolate?"

"Of course."

"Then I'll be glad to come over; what time?"

"Six."

"Six it is." Pulling open the door, she ushered him out and had begun to close it when Clark quickly spun around "Do the southern accent for me again tonight, and I'll make it worth your while."

"I'll think about it." And grinning, she watched as he got into his truck and drove away with a cheery wave.

***

Retreating to the kitchen Lois poured herself a glass of iced tea, then retreated back to where she'd been sitting before Clark began hammering on her door. Making herself comfortable on the couch in the lounge room directly in front of the fan, she sighed in pleasure at the swirl of cool air that washed back and forth over her.

Smiling crookedly she decided that he was right; there was no point in fighting against it, or trying to piss each other off. The kind of desire they shared came along so rarely in a person's life that it was foolish not to make the most of it by indulging themselves to the full while they had the chance.

Dean and Neil were both nice men who were friendly, and congenial; but neither lit even a spark of interest in her. At the moment she was the new girl in town, which naturally caught the men's notice since they weren't accustomed to her. But she also knew that if they asked her out again and she said no, they'd just mentally shrug their shoulders and move onto someone else.

She hadn't even thought about going out to the farm, then again she hadn't been back for long before her plans of just lazing around had gone down the gurgler. Ever since saving Peter in the supermarket she'd either been inundated with invitations from the women, or the occasional offer to share a cup of coffee from the men, and her mornings along with part of her evenings had been taken up with Clark.

However, now that she was going to the farm tonight, she was actually looking forward to seeing the place again. Years ago she'd loved it; the house had been warm and homey, the Kent's warmly hospitable and Clark was the brother you either felt sorry for when he was down, or the brother you wanted to beat up when he annoyed you; now he was the man that she wanted really, really badly. Still she hoped the farm house hadn't changed, time marched over everything and changed it, but it'd be nice for at least one thing to have stayed the same.

Sitting up a little straighter to allow the breeze of the fan to play over her neck and upper chest, she sighed slightly in relief. Maybe she should have rented a beach house, or even better, one in the mountains, at least the weather would be cooler. Flopping back against the couch, she picked up the glass to sip, then almost choked in laughter in recollection at the pissed off look on Clark's face when he joined her and Neil at the Criterion coffee shop. She didn't know what he'd been more outraged about; that they were having coffee at the competition instead of at the Talon, or because they were having coffee together at all.

Remembering his look of insult when she'd implied the Criterions beverage would more than likely be far superior to that found at the Talon, she sniggered once again. In truth she didn't care, as long as it was coffee, without all the added frou frou crap that turned it from a coffee into a cappuccino, and it was made to her taste, then it was good.

Well at least she wouldn't have to worry about what to have for dinner tonight, since Clark was cooking all she had to do was sit at the table and wait to be fed.

She lifted the glass to sip at the contents again, but at the flash her hand paused in mid air.

"_C'mon, we're going to do something we never did when we were kids."_

"_Haven't we been doing that for three months now?" She chortled in amusement._

"_Not that." Clark replied with a grin "This is even more important."_

"_More important than sex?"_

"_Ok, not more important but…"He trailed off wiggling his brows, pushed her gently into the truck and drove into town._

_Once at the Talon, he sat her down at a corner table and smiled "I'll be back in a minute, I'm just going to put our order in." _

"_Hang on, aren't you even going to ask what I want?"_

"_Nope, it's a surprise."_

_He came back a few minutes later with a smug smile._

"_What's going on?"_

"_You'll find out." _

_A minute later the waitress delivered their beverage, and she stared at it stupefied, before looking at him amusement "A milkshake?"_

"_Yep, now give me your hand."_

_When she held out her hand, Clark clasped it in one of his, then smiled in thanks when the waitress returned and put two straws in the glass._

"_What's this?"_

"_Remember our first afternoon in the backyard?" she smiled and nodded; he grinned "You said and I quote 'this is not a date, I'm not interested in holding your hand while we share a milkshake'…" Before he'd finished she was giggling._

"_And this is?"_

"_This is us on a date, holding hands and sharing a milkshake." He leant over and pressed a kiss against her cheek, then whispered "I figure that since I got sex that afternoon, I can buy you a milkshake in return."_

_She laughed "I'd say that you're generous but it's not like I even get my own milkshake, I have to share."_

"_Mmm, and after we've finished this we're going parking."_

_She couldn't help giggling again "Parking?"_

"_Uh huh, I figure that it's about time that I tried to get you naked in the back seat of my car."_

"_I think your odds are pretty good."_

"_You don't say that to a guy; you're supposed to keep us guessing." He replied patiently and shook his head "You're supposed to say 'no, now stop that, I'm not that kind of girl' etc etc."_

"_I've never actually said that to a guy." She replied contemplatively._

"_No talking of exes; not casual flings, meaningful relationships or anything else." He returned firmly. Her brows lifted in quest...._

Shaking her head, Lois came back to the present with a start. That one hadn't been like any of the others. It hadn't been sexual, or softly romantic, it had been sweet.

Obviously they were both going to get into the spirit of enjoying a summer fling, which she was supposed was the point. Blowing out a soft breath and ignoring the fluttering in her belly at the softness she'd seen in their eyes, she shrugged philosophically.

The flash she'd had was a happy one, which made sense. After all, the most important part of a summer fling was to keep things fun and casual; and it appeared that's exactly what they were going to do.

***

After pulling up in front of the house, Clark carried in the groceries, put everything away then stood in the middle of the kitchen and smiled.

Well everything seemed to be coming up roses. He hadn't expected Lois to give in without an argument on the 'summer fling' issue, but since he'd very logically pointed out their affinity for each other without wrapping it up in soft words, she'd said yes. One thing he could say about Lois was that she preferred straight talking to lot of airy fairy bullshit; and now that he was older he was of a like mind.

Using 5 words to say what you mean, was far preferable to using 150 that sounded good but meant absolutely nothing. He no longer wasted time on flowery speeches, nor did he have the patience to listen to them. Direct talk might be harsh at times, but it was honest. A person knew where they stood from the get go, which was much better than being mucked about or misconstrued.

The only thing he hadn't managed to secure was her agreement to sleeping over or allowing him to do so. Yeah, he hoped that she changed her mind, but he wasn't going to push the issue. But at least she wasn't going to kick him out straight afterwards, so to his way of thinking, half a glass was better than none. Actually since she'd given in on all his requests except the sleeping together one, his glass was at least three quarters full not half.

In a way it was all to the good that he'd seen her having coffee with Neil. At the time he'd been angry, not jealous; just irked, but that was only because she was doing exactly what he'd told her they wouldn't; and consequently leading Neil on unnecessarily.

Normally if a friend was making a monkey of himself over a woman, he might wonder what in hell was wrong with the man for being such a dick, but ultimately wouldn't consider it was any of his business to stick his nose in. This however, was different. Neil wasn't being an ass over Lois now, but if he hadn't barged in earlier, then his friend might have become enamoured with her, and then he would have to step in because it was well known that Lois was in some way affiliated with the Kent's. The last thing he'd wanted was to find Neil on his doorstep demanding his help in romancing Lois, when he was sleeping with her himself.

So in the end he'd managed to put a spoke in the wheel of any romancing other men might try now that Lois had agreed she wouldn't see anyone else. This of course ultimately saved him from having to smooth over troubled waters or listening to any heartfelt confessions from Neil or any other man when she left; and Lois wasn't pissed at him.

All in all it had turned out to be a pretty good day; and tonight was going to be even better.

Whistling cheerfully he stepped out the back door and got back to work.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello everyone, as I mentioned in another thread a few weeks ago, I didn't realise all this time that the asterixes I use in my stories to separate one section from another weren't coming up, which must have made it somewhat confusing as the reader to separate character thoughts etc. I've found a way to solve this now, but I apologise if prior to this you were finding it hard to follow the story.

Linda

oOo

_Same day – 5.45pm_

"Hello."

"Hi Anne, its Lois."

"Hey how's your holiday going?"

"Good, I'm just relaxing and taking it easy, but I think I've come across a couple of women whose work we should represent in the shop."

"Well you usually have a good eye for that stuff, but you're supposed to be on holiday Lo, not trying to drum up business."

"I am, but that doesn't mean I should let a couple of potential artists pass us by."

Anne laughed in return "True, now let's forget about work and tell me about your holiday. You said that you were going to vacation in a small town that you lived in a long time ago...."

"Smallville." Lois chimed in helpfully.

"Right, so let's talk talent of a different kind to sewing. Are there any intriguing, good looking or otherwise available men there?"

"Yes to all three."

"So have any of them caught your interest?"

"Kind of..." Lois replied before quickly changing the subject "How's everything with you?"

"Forget about that, and go back a minute..." Anne demanded "Have you met someone?"

"Yes, I mean no, well yes but it's not serious or anything..."

"How serious is not serious?"

"We're having a little fling but it's not serious." Lois confirmed once again.

"So you said..." Anne replied amused "So come on, give me the details."

"There are no details."

"Yes there are and I want them."

Knowing that her friend wouldn't give up, Lois sighed heavily "I knew him when I lived here before. We didn't get along back then, but we don't seem to be having a problem getting along now."

"What's his name?"

"Clark Kent."

"What's he like?"

"Do you mean in looks or personality?"

"Both."

"In a word the man's gorgeous. As a teenager he was cute, but he didn't do anything for me. I certainly can't say that anymore. He's tall, has thick black hair, yum yum eyes, and an even yummier body."

"Does the personality match the looks or is it a fizzer?"

"They match and you have no idea how surprising that is. I'd swear that he's had a personality transplant in the time I've been gone, because he's almost nothing like he used to be. He's very masculine, and a touch arrogant, but when we went out for dinner I also discovered that he can be extremely charming."

Anne patted her heart and asked "How does he make you feel?"

"Hot and bothered, really sexy and embarrassingly..." She coughed and added "...there's also a little bit of gooey thrown in."

"So do the looks and personality match what he's like in bed, or don't you know?"

"I know alright. The sex is like...." Blowing out a deep breath she asked softly "...do you remember when you were a kid waking up on Christmas morning was the best time of your life?"

"Yeah."

"The sex is so scrumptious that every day is like waking up on Christmas morning."

Anne grinned hugely in glee "Did you have a vision about the two of you?"

Lois hesitated for a moment before answering "Yeah, but that's happened before so it's not a big deal."

Hearing both the hesitation and a tone in her friend's voice that she'd never heard before, Anne's brows rose curiously "Something's different this time."

"No it's not." Lois denied quickly.

"Yes it is. You've had visions about yourself before; some that included guys and some that didn't, but something's different this time; so spill it."

"I've had more than one." Lois admitted reluctantly.

"You've never had more than one."

"I know that." She replied grieved.

"Well if you've had more than one, they have to be different rather than just repeating the same thing, correct?"

"Yeah, so far I've had three, no four flashes of us. Except for the first one, the others have to be in the future because it's stuff we haven't done."

"Describe them." Anne demanded rapidly. At the returned mutter, she frowned and pressed the phone harder against her ear "Say again."

"I don't want to."

Anne's lips curved "Are they hot and erotic."

"The first one was; it showed us inside the house and on the bed, and shortly afterwards I was rolling around with him in the backyard. However, considering all the sex we've had since then, the very first one has definitely been fulfilled. The next two were passionate and romantic, but the last one was kind of sweet."

"We'll get back to this in a second; but just confirm something for me first." Anne giggled lightly "You did it with him in the backyard?"

Hearing the question, Lois closed her eyes and nodded "Oh yeah, we did it alfresco in the middle of the afternoon."

"What was it like?"

"Anne!"

"Did it feel wicked and uninhibited?"

"Anne!"

"Did anyone see you?"

"_**Anne!**_"

"Well I hope you don't have neighbours with binoculars or a zoom lens camera." At the growl she chortled out loud.

Lois waited patiently for the mirth to calm down, but when Anne laughingly asked tongue in cheek "Have the two of you filmed yourselves for posterity or artistic reasons by any chance?" She seriously thought about hanging up and finding new friends.

"Ok, I'm good now." Anne grinned "So you've had more than one flash of you and him together, well now this is interesting."

"It's annoying and confusing, and it's obviously a glitch..." Lois rubbed her brow "...but I want him so bad that I just have to see him, and my body begins to hum in anticipation."

"What about him?"

"Well he seems to be finding it hard to keep his hands off me." She returned dryly.

"He doesn't sound like the usual wimp you get involved with."

"I don't get involved with wimps..." Lois retorted and ignored her friend's rude snort "But no he's not a wimp. When I knew him before he was, but my god he's changed. I was having coffee with this guy earlier, and Clark not only had the temerity to ruin the date, he then stormed over here to the house I'm staying at, kissed the hell out of me and then he told me....he didn't ask mind; he TOLD me '_there will be no more dates with other men_.' That's what he said, he actually said that."

"What'd you say?" Anne asked eagerly.

"I said no way; that I was free to see whoever I liked and if he didn't like it, then tough luck and sayonara."

"And he....?"

"Let's just say that he wasn't happy with my reply. Anyway, the upshot is that I've now agreed not to date anyone but him while I'm here on holiday."

"How'd he convince you?"

"By being a logical inflexible bastard, that's how." Lois growled "He actually had the nerve to say that he'd ruin any dates I went on; can you believe it?"

"Well he did ruin it, didn't he?" She asked reasonably.

"Yes, but the first time he told me that we weren't going to see anyone else...."

"Hang on; what first time?" Anne cut in speedily.

"He told me a few days ago that we weren't going to see anyone else, and when I didn't agree he told me that he'd ruin any dates I went on." Lois snorted loudly "_He_ went on a date and clearly it didn't work out because all they did was kiss apparently, and then he thought that he could stop me from seeing anyone else. What a bloody nerve!"

Anne bit her lip to stifle the laugh that once again wanted to pop out. Swallowing quickly she cleared her throat "So I'd say that his date fizzled and I have a pretty good idea why. Then he told you that you'd only be seeing each other, but when you went out with someone else he ruined it....how'd he do that exactly?"

"He joined us and refused to leave."

Unable to contain it any longer, Anne let out a peal of laughter.

"It's not funny."

"Yes sweetie it is." Wiping away tears of mirth, she ginned in delight "It sounds like you've finally met your match; a man who's not going to let you push him around."

"I don't push guys around."

Anne just rolled her eyes "Well Clark sounds like the kind of man who'd easily capture a woman's attention...."

"Capturing and keeping are two different things." Lois interrupted rudely.

Completely ignoring her, Anne continued undaunted "...and right now he seems to have caught yours. So does this mean that you're falling for falling for someone at last?"

"No I'm not..." Lois put in quickly then added just as fast "...and what'd you mean, I've fallen for guys in the past

"Uh huh..." _bullshit_ Anne replied silently in her head "And he's got you to agree not to date anyone else huh; it all sounds so...."

"So wimpy of me to give in?" She asked in a small voice.

"No, so like something out of those old swashbuckling movies. You know like in Captain Blood when Errol Flynn kidnaps Olivia de Havilland, and she falls madly in love with him. Not that you're going to fall for Clark or anything but the way you described him kissing you and saying '_no more dates with other men_' hmmm...." She broke off dreamily, before quickly snapping to "You need a man who can match you for wits and will, and Clark sounds like he's just that man."

Lois let out a small giggle "He didn't used to be. When I knew him years ago he was the biggest sissy I'd ever met in my life. The guy used to sit around crying about this girl he liked; and I'm not kidding he actually cried."

Anne snorted in amusement "How long ago was that?"

"15 years."

"And I'm guessing the girl he liked was a big cry-baby too."

"Yep; I think they took it in turns."

"Well I think you can excuse it, he was a teenager back then and I'm sure you remember what that's like. The world is pretty insular; most everything is about you, it's all a big deal and it can be overwhelming at times because you haven't learnt how to deal with it. But he's now 35...."

"34, he's younger than me."

"Ok, so he's 34, but from what you've said I don't think he'd handle things the same way now that he did back then. I mean, instead of wasting your time with blubbering pleas which is a huge turn off itself, he was direct and told you what he wanted without all the usual bullshit; which you have to admit is kind of attractive."

"Yeah." Lois admitted softly.

"Did he interest you years ago?"

"Oh god no."

"Right, because even though you've been involved with wimps in the past, they turned you off right quick since they're not your type, but he's no longer like that. I bet the girl he used to cry over would bore him to death now, and she in turn wouldn't be able to handle him; but you can."

"I wasn't involved with wimps, they were just creeps." Lois stated once again. At her friends amused grunt, she grimaced "Yeah ok so I made a few mistakes, but I like to think of them as a learning experience. Anyway, getting back to the point, it's only a holiday indulgence on both our parts remember?"

"I remember but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have fun while you're on holiday, that's the whole point of having them in the first place."

"True."

"Has he made any noises about the romance lasting after your holidays over?"

"Nope, he's not into commitment any more than I am."

"Then just go with it and have fun."

"I will."

"Good."

"If I manage to talk the women into letting us represent their work I'll ship it to you ok?"

"Fine, but will you stop thinking about the shop, and just have a good time."

"I have been."

Anne laughed in reply and after hanging up, quickly punched in a new phone number. When the line was picked up she smiled "Hey Carol, are you free for dinner?" At the affirmative reply, she grinned "Good, because I've got some really good gossip to share."

"What gossip?"

"Lois has met someone."

"If you're talking about a man, and I know that you are, what's the big deal?" Carol replied calmly "Lois quite often meets someone and then dumps them shortly afterwards. Hell, she doesn't even bother talking about them anymore."

"She tells us stuff."

"Yeah but where you and I talk about our relationships and the sex, Lois barely gives the guy a mention and only talks about the sex. She stopped talking about men like they were something special after that last loser she dated for longer than three months cheated on her, remember?"

"Yeah, but how would you describe the men that she's dated; the one's she had an actual relationship with I mean?" Anne asked pointedly.

"Insecure creeps who were assholes deep down masquerading as men." She replied promptly.

"Exactly, and even though she's never said it, we both know why she got involved with them in the first place."

"That's true."

"Right but this man she's met sounds different to anyone she's dated before; and that includes both the long and short term relationships she's had."

"Different in what way?" She asked curiously.

"In a lot of ways; firstly he's not letting her call all the shots, yet she's still seeing him."

Carol's interest peaked fractionally "Ok, go on."

Anne smiled big and wide "She also didn't sound carefree as she usually does about her romantic whirls. In fact she sounded kind of harassed yet captivated against her will."

"What'd she say about him?"

"Nuh uh, I'll tell you everything at dinner."

"At least give me something more."

"She's had more than one vision of them...." Anne whispered then tacked on delightfully "....together."

Carol sat up in surprise "She's never had more than one before."

"I know."

"Oh my god!"

"I know!"

"What does Lo say about it?'

"She's calling it a glitch." Anne replied dryly.

"A _**glitch!**_"

"I know!"

"Talk about grasping at straws."

"I know!"

"The visions she has of other people can change from bad to good, but the ones of herself are like prophecies; they always come true, and they never change or continue."

"I know but she's.....damn! I have to go; it looks like a bunch of tourists have just come in." Smiling and waving at her assistant, Anne quickly continued "Can you book a reservation somewhere then call me back later and let me know where and what time."

"Ok, but I want to hear every single thing she told you; **everything**!"

"Don't worry you will; ok I have to go." Almost giggling with excitement, Anne swiftly hung up then got down to the business of charming people and making sales.

oOo

Lois clicked off the phone and tossed it down onto the bed. Rising she stepped over to look at herself in front of the full length mirror. Just because she was going to the farm for dinner didn't mean she shouldn't make the effort. Turning this way and that her lips curved in approval. Her dress was flirty and sexy, her hair was tied back casually with a scarf, the makeup barely there, and the perfume was light and fresh. She looked like she was ready for fun and play on a perfect summers evening.

After stepping into a pair of strappy high heeled sandals, she took one last look in the mirror, smiled at the reflection, and scooping up her purse and car keys, left the house.

Pulling up in front of the farm house 15 minutes later, she turned off the ignition and stared at the house for a moment through the windshield before getting out of the car. Taking in the surroundings Lois smiled in both sadness and nostalgia. The house looked the same, the barn was still there, but the farm itself was totally different. If she hadn't known this was the Kent farm, she wouldn't have recognised it from the road and driven right past it. Well, at least the house was the same, shrugging she made her way up the stairs and knocked on the door.

After a couple of minutes she knocked again, but when there was still no reply, she took a quick look at her watch, confirmed it was 10 after six, and knocked once more.

She wasn't early, so exactly where was Clark? Not hearing any movement from inside, she began to silently fume. This was his idea! He was the one who'd asked her to come for dinner, he was the one who'd made a big deal about wanting a summer fling, and now he couldn't even be bothered to be at home. Well he could get stuffed!

Turning she began to make her way down the stairs, only to find herself scooped up and carried into the house. When Clark set her down, she opened her mouth to tell him that she didn't appreciate being carried around like sack of potatoes, but didn't get the chance to say anything before her mouth was crushed under his.

oOo

_Kent Farm – 5.55 pm _

When his cell-phone rang, Clark looked at his watch and swore under his breath. It was almost 6 o'clock, so more than likely that was Lois calling to cancel. Snatching up the phone he resolved that if she was chickening out, then he'd have a few choice words to say before going to pick her up and carrying her back to the farm.

"Hello."

"Clark we..."

At the sound of Oliver's voice, he swore once again and left the house in a whirlwind. If this took too long and Lois arrived at the farm only to find he wasn't there, more than likely she'd leave thinking he was mucking her about, and decide to hell with any deals she'd made.

Well bugger that! This was the first time they were making any progress, and he wasn't going to let anything sabotage it or give her any excuses to get out of it. If he was detained and got back late then he'd simply have to go with his first instinct upon picking up the phone. Go to her place, scoop her up and carry her back to the farm; kicking and screaming if need be.

Striding into the watchtower a minute later, he looked at his friends; all of whom seemed to be relaxing and didn't bother wasting time on pleasantries "What's the emergency?"

The men turned at his voice, looked him up and down and grinned "Did we interrupt something?" Oliver asked politely.

Clark looked down, noted that he was still wearing an apron and swore quietly for the third time in as many minutes before yanking it off and tossing it aside "As a matter of fact I was cleaning the house before having dinner."

"So I'm guessing that you're expecting company of the feminine kind for dinner." Bart asked cordially.

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well I doubt that you'd clean the house just to eat dinner alone, and it's also highly unlikely that you'd dress up just to impress the animals, much less wear an apron to ensure your clothes didn't get soiled." Bart replied drolly.

Clark just stared back patiently when they all looked him up and down again. He knew what they were seeing; black pants, light blue untucked dress shirt and black dress shoes. The look he'd been going for was one of casual elegance; nothing too fancy, but better than slobbish. However, when his friends' smiles grew wider, he wished that he'd paused long enough to change into jeans and t-shirt before coming.

"No matter how fast you've arrived when we've called for help in the past, I don't remember you ever blowing in all dressed up; well except for when you worked at the Planet for a short time years ago. Obviously you must have had other things on your mind today to not even chan...." Breaking off Oliver turned to his friends, and thumbed over his shoulder "Is it my imagination or is he wearing cologne?"

Victor put on a show of sniffing the air then shook his head "It's not your imagination, and it smells like he's using the good stuff too. I'm hurt; I don't remember him ever looking so pretty just for us."

"Yeah, and we usually just get the smell of the farm." AC informed them all sadly.

"Oh; up yours." Clark announced loudly.

Bruce smiled curiously "So who's the lucky lady then?"

"No one that you need to know about..." He promptly replied then got back to the matter at hand "...now what's the emergency?"

"There isn't one; we're all heading to my place in a little while for some dinner after which we're going to play billiards, cards etc and I called to ask if you wanted to join us."

"Why didn't you just ask me that on the phone?" He asked pointedly.

"I didn't get a chance to. You heard my voice and the next minute you were here." Oliver returned blandly "Clearly you were in a hurry to get our little task over with."

"I was in a hurry because I'm busy; but if you don't need me then I'm off." Clark swung around but stopped short at finding Bart in front of him.

"Hey, hey, hey, not so fast; who is she?" AC called from behind.

Swinging around he turned to find that Bart had retaken his seat, and sweeping them all up in his gaze pronounced bluntly "None of your business."

Bruce smiled knowingly "Well gentlemen it seems that Mr Kent has a new lady in his life; and since he's never been backwards about giving us a name..."

"Or telling us about a few of her sterling attributes." Victor chimed in.

"Right..." He inclined his head in acknowledgement "Then I guess we have to assume that she's special."

"Ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo...." Bart began to childishly sing, and the others took up the chanting.

"Will you lot shut up?" Clark rolled his eyes "For god's sakes I haven't even been seeing her for a month yet. Tomorrow will only make it three weeks, so...."

"Oh hoh, so he knows how long it's been down to the day...." Oliver cut in. Turning to the men he winked at them, before turning back to his friend "...and how often have you seen her?" When Clark crossed his arms but refused to answer, he grinned even wider "Since you can get around without any effort then I'm guessing you must be seeing her pretty frequently." He shrugged but deigned to answer "Every weekend perhaps; every other day?" When still no answer was forthcoming, Oliver huffed out "Oh come on, give us some details."

"No."

"Clark we're your friends; we're just trying to look out for you buddy." Bart coaxed gently.

"Bull! You just want to live vicariously through me since you'll be playing games while I'll be more delightfully occupied." He replied calmly.

"That might or might not be true, but making accusations like that is just so wrong when you have absolutely no proof." Victor scoldingly chided. At Clark's dry look he smiled innocently "So how many other women have you been 'seeing' in the last three weeks?" He asked politely crooking his fingers in the quote sign.

"If by _seeing_, you mean sleeping with, then none." He answered mildly.

"I thought you had a hard and fast rule about never restricting yourself to just one woman." Bruce put in smoothly.

"I do bu...." He began, only to stop and silently curse himself.

"But...." Bruce asked interested.

"It's not like I sleep with someone every night. More often than not its months in between times, so it's not a big deal." He defended stoutly.

"But..." Oliver repeated at the non answer.

Clark shifted his shoulders uneasily "But if I date then she'll be free to do so as well."

AC's brows climbed high "Well what's wrong with that, at least if she's dating then she won't be taking things between you seriously." He paused and asked delicately "Or do you want her to?"

"No...I don't."

"Reading between the lines I gather that even though she's been seeing you; it didn't stop her from dating ot...."

"She only had two dates and they were only for coffee but there won't be any more." Clark announced cutting through Victor mid sentence.

"How do you know?"

"Because I made sure there wouldn't be." He returned inflexibly.

"It certainly sounds like it's getting serious." Bruce queried with fake innocence.

"It's not."

The men all looked at each other and smothered their grins before turning back to him as one.

"Really; so you're not seeing anyone else, you've put a stop to her seeing anyone else, but it's not serious, and you don't want her to think it is; correct?" Oliver asked placidly.

"Correct!"

"And you'll be ok with it, if or when she wants to break up."

"As long as it's not before the end of summer, I'll be just fine with it." At their confused expressions, Clark patiently explained "We're only enjoying a summer fling, so we won't _actually_ break up, since we're not _actually_ together."

"But you are _actually_ only dating each other right now." AC asked with a slight quiver in his voice that went unnoticed by no one except for Clark.

"Precisely."

"And when the summers over?" Bruce asked cordially.

"We'll go our separate ways."

"Well then, I guess by the end of summer she'll be looking for someone to cuddle up with on all those cold winter nights." When Clark's eyes narrowed, Victor smiled congenially "Maybe you could introduce me to her."

"Even though you're part machine Victor, please remember that I can still hurt you."

"God Victor you're such an opportunistic sleaze bag." Bart condemned sharply "The lady won't be looking for someone to cuddle up with; she'll need a man who'll give her the strokes and make her feel _wanted_…." He paused for a beat and smiled demurely "…and that's my speciality." When Clark's gaze zeroed in on him, he shrugged modestly "What can I say; it's a gift. I made it my business to perfect my god given talent for captivating the ladies after hearing Handy Man for the first time when I was thirteen. It's now something that I have down to a fine art, and it's all thanks to James Taylor."

"Handy Man…" Clark replied scornfully "So she'll tell all her friends about you and they'll come running, right Bart?"

"Word of mouth is the best advertising there is." He replied cockily.

"Well you might want to keep in mind that although you're fast, you need to rest sometime; whereas I can go for days at a time without getting tired." Clark reminded him rigidly "So keep your gift to yourself, and I'll let you keep the use of your legs."

"I thought you said that you'd be just fine with going your separate ways when the summer was over?" AC asked politely.

At his words their grins could no longer be suppressed. Seeing the smiles, and finally realising they were purposely taunting him, Clark's shoulders moved in automatic defence "I will, but that doesn't mean I appreciate anyone talking about her as if she's just a piece of ass, or another one of my fl....."

"Flings?" Bart supplied helpfully.

"Exactly! Just because we're having one, doesn't mean she's a sex object who's only worth is in bed. Neither is she is fodder for me to talk to my friends about so....."

"What's she like?"

Clark's head whipped around "If you're asking what I think you're asking....?"

Oliver quickly held up his hands for peace when his friend stepped towards him "I meant what is she like as a person; not what you thought I meant."

"She's an obstinate infuriating little wretch who should have been strangled at birth. Why no one hasn't murdered her before now will forever be a mystery to me. In less than a minute she can get me hotter than a two dollar pistol then she opens her mouth and pisses me off just as fast. If I don't end up in a lunatic asylum by the end of summer, it'll be nothing less than a miracle, and no thanks to her. She's…" His words ran together in one long stream, and unaware of the amusement in the men's eyes, he broke off to take a deep breath and begin again; saw the time on the wall clock and swore "….oh shit I'm late, and knowing her she'll give me hell about it too; I have to go."

"Hang on; at least tell us her name." Victor yelled quickly.

"Nope, see you." Saluting his friends with two fingers, he turned and zipped off.

"Oh he's in trouble." Oliver pronounced loudly.

"Yep." Everyone agreed readily.

"If she's going to the farm for dinner then she must live in Smallville." AC queried out loud.

Bart frowned and scratched his chin "Then she's either new to the town, or it's someone he's known for years and has just started to notice."

"It wouldn't be the second, we've all seen the way he zero's in on an attractive woman and starts turning on the charm, so it has to be someone new." Oliver pondered aloud.

"She doesn't sound like his usual type."

"No she doesn't. Clark usually goes for the sweet and accommodating in a woman, but they only rev his engine for a short time before he loses interest." Bruce grinned jovially "However, despite being frustrated he's not moving onto greener more compliant pastures. Instead he's still seeing this woman, even though he's obviously met more than a little opposition rather than cooperation from her."

"So how bad you think he's got it?" AC asked casually.

"If he's not a goner already, then he will be soon." Bruce replied swiftly.

"Do you think we should tell him?"

"Nope, unlike all of us who at one time or another has had women troubles, Clark's been heart free. So it'll be interesting to see how 'Mr love and leave em' handles it when he realises that he's joined the rest of us slobs." Victor grinned wide in anticipation.

"He was a complete slob about that girl he liked years and years ago." AC reminded them thoughtfully.

Oliver snorted derisively "Yeah and how old was he?"

"Point taken...." AC inclined his head in agreement "….Clark's not exactly known for his consistency with the opposite sex."

"Consistency hah, he has a new ladybird in his life every time we see him." Bruce remarked with a slight eye roll "I thought I was footloose and fancy free, but he gives new meaning to the expression."

"True; it's the first time he doesn't seem to have a sense of humour about it either, and he's only been seeing her for three weeks." AC put in with a quick head shake.

"Not quite, it'll be three weeks tomorrow remember." Oliver corrected with a small laugh.

Victor laughed in return "Yeah, it's also the first time he's ever threatened us with bodily harm when we've joked about taking a woman off his hands."

"And it's the first time he's been tight-lipped about sharing any details about the woman in question, which is very telling in itself." Bart countered in the same vein.

"Yep to all of that, but he did give us several hints about the lady unknowingly." At their lifted brows, Oliver let out a short bark of laughter "Clark's never cared if any of the women he was seeing dated other men. He figured that meant they weren't interested in tying him down, so it was all good. But this time..." He trailed off with a pointed look all round.

"This time he's met his match." Bruce took up the tale "They've been seeing each other for three weeks, well that's about 20 days longer than he's usually involved with anyone. His relationships tend to last for all of a night, and from the little he said I gather his new lady love is a feminine version of him. It might have started out casually as his relationships always do, but instead of trying to get rid of her, he's now stopped dating to ensure that she doesn't either."

"The poor bastard's caught and doesn't even know it yet." Bart chuckled lightly.

"Yep." Oliver nodded slowly.

"So how long do you think it'll be before he comes to us confused about his feelings?"

"You have it wrong AC, he won't be confused. He won't even know what's going on until it's too late, but until then he'll be fighting it every step of the way; and as his friends hopefully we'll get a front row seat to it all." Bruce replied with a wicked grin.

"Oh this should be fun." Victor grinned "When one of us has problems with a woman, Clark's advice is to dump them and get another."

"Actually his advice is to dump them, and get another one under us pronto. According to him, sex is the panacea to whatever ails you." Bart remarked dryly.

"Yeah; its way past time that Clark Kent finally joined the rest of the human race when it comes to matters of the heart." Victor said in satisfaction.

"And it couldn't happen to a nicer guy. I'm really looking forward to meeting the woman who's bringing him to heel at last." Oliver finished gleefully.

The men all looked at each other, nodded firmly and began to laugh.

oOo

_Kent Farm – 6.11pm_

Spying Lois' car in the driveway, Clark zoomed his vision around, saw her standing on the porch, noted the peeved expression on her face and cursed. When she turned for the stairs, he muttered "Oh no you don't" and put on a burst of speed. Zipping in through the front door, he flashed through the house and pulled open the kitchen door. Taking one step forward, he slipped an arm around her waist, picked her up, and carried her into the house.

After setting her down he noted the miffed expression on her face hadn't lifted one iota, but when her mouth opened, he bent and took her lips with his. His arms tightened fractionally, he stepped forward, she stepped back and into the wall, as lips clung and moulded.

Coming up for air a few minutes later, his lips crooked up in a small smile of challenge "Going somewhere?"

"I was going home." She retorted breathlessly.

"Just because I didn't answer the door on the first knock."

"By the third knock....' She corrected mildly "...and because I don't appreciate being kept waiting."

"I was in the laundry room and didn't hear you over the sound of the washing machine, sorry."

"Well I suppose that I can forgive you."

"That'd be a first." He retorted quickly, and not giving her time to answer, claimed her mouth with his yet again.

Clark hummed in his throat at the feeling of Lois' body pressed against his, felt the thump of her heart against his, and hummed again when her arms slipped around his waist and tightened on his back.

He slipped one hand from her back around to the front and up to cup one breast, and quickly slid the other into her hair to keep her mouth pressed against his. His fingers squeezed the globe gently, his thumb rubbed over the nipple and his mouth swallowed the small gasps that escaped her lips. Mouths never quite parted, but lifted slightly enough to change angles before coming back together as tongues continued to duel lazily in one long dance.

When they were both panting, lips separated, lashes fluttered up and each saw the swirling desire in the other's eyes. The hand on her hair lifted to slap against the wall, and moving infinitesimally closer, he lazily rubbed his body against hers.

Feeling the unmistakable evidence of his arousal pressed against her, Lois felt her heart thump harder and licked her lips. His eyes followed the movement as his fingers automatically contracted, and each saw the desire in the other's eyes flare higher "Have you really made dinner?" At his nod, she asked softly "So you do intend to feed me then?"

"Soon."

"Are you going to take your hand off my breast?"

"In a minute..." He murmured softly then shook his head "...or maybe not." Quickly picking her up, he turned and sat her on the kitchen island, unzipped the dress then slipped it down to her waist before unclipping the bra. Pushing the cups aside, he ran one finger back, forth, over and around the nipple he'd previously been caressing and smiled when it tightened even further. Leaning forward Clark lazily dragged his tongue over the peak and back again, before trailing his tongue down the slope of her breast to slowly glide it along the plump underside. The feeling of Lois' short nails gently raking over the nape of his neck caused an answering shiver to travel down his spine, and his eyes to close in bliss.

"How hungry are you?" Clark growled quietly.

"I can wait as long as there is food."

"I'll feed you afterwards I promise." He slipped his arms around her waist and slid her to the edge "Wrap your legs around my waist." When she did, he picked her up and made for the stairs almost stumbling when her teeth began to attack his neck.

"Where are we going?" Lois murmured.

"Upstairs."

"It's too far, the couch is right there." She replied waving one arm towards the lounge room.

"The bed's bigger." Striding quickly up the stairs and into his room, he turned and fell backwards onto the mattress with her still wrapped around him.

Their mouths once again locked, as her hands became busy trying to slip the buttons through the holes of his shirt. At her impatient growl, he quickly flipped her under him, kneeled up and dragged the shirt over his head, before leaning down to take her mouth with his once again.

They rolled over the bed and back again, by turns laughing or swearing when clothes got in the way. Their mouths released, eyes clashed for a moment before clothes were tugged, pushed and ripped off and then they dived at each other once more. His arms tightened around her waist, bringing her kneeling form ever closer to his, as her hands roamed down his back to clench hard into his bottom. Mouths opened wider, as tongues continued to joust and dance furiously.

Lifting his mouth from hers, Clark tumbled them down to the mattress, quickly flipped Lois over, pushed his hand under her tummy, and pulled her up again to a half kneeling position in front of him. Slipping the palm resting on her tummy down between her legs, he sighed in pleasure at the wetness his fingers found, and positioning himself quickly, thrust smoothly into her passage.

"Umm." Flinging one arm around his neck, while wrapping the other around his hip and clenching her fingers into his bottom for balance; Lois' purr of delight turned into a gurgle of laughter at his voice in her ear.

"You really do like my ass don't you?"

Grinning, he nipped lightly on the lobe causing her to yelp, and laughed when her fingers clenched into his butt in retaliation. Holding her steady with one arm under her breasts, his hand cupping one rich globe, while his other arm rode low on her hip with his palm sitting low on the curls at the base of her mound, and his fingers spread wide underneath gently holding her open, he withdrew almost completely before sliding inside once again. Silently thanking god that he had super-strength to keep them braced upright, he continued to move, sliding his penis in and out of her pulsating warmth in a strong but steady rhythm.

When Lois' head fell back on his shoulder, Clark bent his and latched their lips together. The arm around his neck tightened, pushing her breast up higher and more firmly in his hand, causing his fingers to automatically contract around the globe, and them to moan into each other's mouths.

Sliding the palm between her legs up, his fingers twined and tugged gently on the curls before moving back down to brush over and around the soft flesh. The liquid flowed faster coating his fingers, as his penis continued to slide smoothly in and out of her soaking wet passage. Lois wrenched her mouth free, Clark caught it with his again devouring the small whimpers trapped in her throat as his thumb began to thrum back and forth over the button hard nubbin at the top of her sex. Dragging her mouth free once more, Lois gasped and mewled, pushing into his hand silently requesting harder stimulation. Knowing that neither of them could last for much longer, he trailed his lips from her cheek to her neck and bit down softly "Hold on tight."

At his words Lois flung her other arm around his neck interlocking her fingers. In return his hands moved down until both were sitting high on her inner thighs, and holding her steady, he began to pound in and out of her passage in a strong driving rhythm. Unable to stay upright, they toppled down to the bed, and grasping onto her hips, he thrust harder, faster, deeper. Less than a minute later Lois screamed with the blessed feeling of release, as her body was wracked by the wonderful pulsation of her climax.

Thankful that he could at last satisfy himself, Clark released her hips, gripped his fingers into the bedspread, and rising up onto his hands for leverage, flexed his hips and began to hammer in and out her passage barely withdrawing before slamming forward once again. The feeling of her inner muscles squeezing and milking his penis almost drove him out of his mind, and after a few more thrusts his testicles gave one final contraction, his back arched fully and he emptied himself inside her. Completely drained, he collapsed face down on the bed at her side.

They lay like that, pleasantly wrecked, each greedily sucking in great gulps of air. When his heart had calmed, and breathing resumed normal rhythm, Clark rolled over lazily before levering up to a sitting position with his back resting against the headboard. Raking his hands through his hair, he blew out one last deep breath as his eyes took in the mess they'd made of the room. Why on earth did he even bother tidying up? He'd barely finished the thought when his gaze landed on the feminine form still lying face down at his side; ah yes that's why. Question asked and answered.

Noting that she still hadn't moved, he listened to the soft woosh of her breath, watched her back rise and fall gently with every inhale, and tapping her shoulder gently, let out a small laugh at her answering grunt "Are you just going to lie there?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"Comfortable are you?"

"I don't have the energy to get up."

Although her face was half buried in the pillow, he heard the answer, heard the lazy contentment in her voice and his smile grew bigger.

"Then let me help you." Reaching down he grasped her around the waist, and sat her in his lap. His eyes ran up and down her form appreciatively before meeting hers in rueful apology "I really did intend to give you dinner first."

"Sure you did." Lois laughed huskily.

"I did but it was your fault for sidetracking me." Reaching up he tugged the now askew scarf from her hair and tossed it aside negligently.

"And how did I do that?"

"Well you were going to yell at me for not opening the door promptly, so I kissed you. After that it was all over."

"I was going to yell at you for carrying me around like a sack of potatoes."

His lips curved, his hands roved down to cup and squeeze her bottom, as his eyes once more took their fill "Some potatoes."

She laughed throatily before quickly leaning forward to bite his bottom lip. At his small yelp Lois grinned, grasped a fistful of hair, swiped her tongue along the non-existent hurt then devoured his mouth with hers. Releasing his lips a moment later, she licked hers and grinned even wider at finding his eyes were still closed "Now, how about we have some dinner?"

Clark's eyes flew open in shock "You want dinner now?"

"Yep and if you want me to finish what I just started, then you'd better feed me."

"You're just going to leave me hanging." He almost cried.

She looked down, back up and lifted one brow politely "It looks like you'll keep."

"Evil; thy name is woman."

She smiled and shrugged carelessly.

"How can you even think about food right now?" He demanded testily.

"I'm a woman, so I'm not only evil I've also learnt to prioritise; and right now food is on the top of my list."

"Fine! You want food, fine; I'll get you food." He grumbled quietly.

She slapped her hands on his shoulders and pressed her lips to his gently "I've also learnt to multi-task; so why don't you just bring the food up here and I'll get you off while gorging myself."

"I have some self-respect." He retorted indignantly "I'll feed you first and then you'll have no excuse not to get me off later." And so saying, he picked her up, tossed her on the bed and enjoyed the touch of revenge he felt at her loud squeal.

At the insult in his voice and on his face Lois giggled "I also want a shower first, so why don't you go down and get dinner ready while I get clean?"

"You're still a bossy little thing aren't you?"

"Yep."

"Well since dinner is ready and just needs to be warmed up, plus I need to get clean too, why don't we have a shower together?" Clasping her hand with his, he tugged.

She shook her head and tugged back "You have one first otherwise dinner will be delayed again, and I'm hungry now."

"Bossy and demanding." He muttered quietly.

"I'm worth it." She shrugged carelessly.

Unwilling to confirm or deny her claim, he grumbled instead "Fine, I'll go first." He trod to the door then quickly swung around in suspicion "Do you still have hour long marathon showers?" At her nod, his eyes narrowed "In that case, to hell with my shower, I'm joining you."

"I'm too hungry to have one now, so I'll save it for when I get home later."

"That's what you think." He muttered under his breath, before walking out of the bedroom and into the bathroom.

While he was dressing, Lois took her turn. X-raying through the wall his eyes flowed up and down her body, and his lips crooked upwards "You'll be having one with me before the nights over." Making his way downstairs, he entered the kitchen, whistling cheerfully. His hands stayed busy warming up dinner, as his mind remained occupied with visions dancing like sugar plums in his head of exactly how he intended to conclude their evening.

oOo

Coming downstairs freshly showered 30 minutes later, Lois took a quick look around the lounge room, stepped into the kitchen and smiled "Well the house is still as comfortable and homey as ever."

"You should know, since you invited yourself to stay more than once." He replied tongue in cheek.

"Nonsense, I didn't invite myself, I just tricked you into asking me to stay." She corrected airily.

"Yeah thanks for the reminder; I asked you to stay and promptly kicked myself out of my own bed." He reminded her blandly.

"Oh get over it." She took a seat at the island "Well be a gentleman and get me a drink."

Stepping to the fridge, he retrieved a bottle of wine, and after pouring them both a glass, passed her one, then clasped her free hand and tugged her over to the dining table.

Setting his glass down, he pulled out her chair and after making her comfortable returned to the kitchen "So what's for dinner?" Lois called out eagerly.

"Chicken parmesan, with mashed potato and vegetables" He replied coming back with two full plates. Placing one in front of her, he set the other directly opposite, stepped back into the kitchen to retrieve the last item and returned "Plus freshly baked bread."

"You made the bread?" She asked astonished.

"Yup."

"How the hell did you cook all that in this heat?"

He shrugged unconcerned "After being outside in the sun all day, a little heat from the oven doesn't bother me."

Not wasting any further time with conversation, she eagerly reached for a slice of the bread, buttered it and closed her eyes in bliss before beginning to dig into the rest of the food with gusto. Sitting back thirty minutes later she looked at him with cocked brow "You actually cooked all that?"

"With my own two hands" He smiled back amused.

Raising her glass in a toast she grinned "Well it was very nice; so when do I get dessert?"

Grinning at her unbound enthusiasm for food, he stood to clear away the table. Lois helped and after topping up their glasses, Clark led her to the couch in the lounge area "We'll have dessert in a little while."

"So what'd you make?"

"I made chocolate mousse, and we also have whipped cream and summer berries."

"Cream." Lois demanded then quickly qualified "I mean do you have real cream as opposed to that artificial crap?"

"Of course, and don't worry the berries won't be all squishy and soft. I've kept them separate so that you can add as much or little as you like to the mousse." He replied calmly and lifting the glass to his lips, laughed silently as the look of greed in her eyes got brighter.

"Well ok then." Feeling mollified that she wasn't going to be shafted on dessert, Lois sat back content.

oOo

_Later that night_

After slipping into a nightie, and taking care of her nightly ablutions Lois crawled into bed, looked up at the ceiling and smiled. She'd had a good time tonight. When they went out to dinner she'd suspected, and tonight it was confirmed; Clark Kent was not only charming but good company to boot.

That wasn't something she would've believed prior to meeting him again, but she couldn't deny it now. He was entertaining, funny, and his conversation both wide and varied.

She hadn't had such a good time with a man in ages. Maybe she was just cynical; hell she was cynical but she'd come to think that men were only good for one thing after which their usefulness was over, and it was the company of her girlfriends that she enjoyed more than anything else.

But she'd actually enjoyed just kicking back and relaxing with Clark tonight. Ok she hadn't liked being roundly beaten at chess, and his smugness at winning had irked, but she preferred that to him deliberately losing just to keep her happy.

Since she hated losing at anything she'd decided to get revenge, but since he'd been sweet enough to beat her fair and square, she hadn't tortured him unduly.

Smiling, she recalled that after she was done with him, she'd climbed off, rolled onto the bed at his side and murmured "Let that be a lesson to you not to beat me at chess in future."

When he didn't reply, she'd turned her head to find Clark staring at the ceiling with the most ridiculous smile on his face, and had felt smugly pleased that she'd won at something tonight. Of course his wiggling, grunts and lack of protests had already told her that, but his smile....ah that was the icing.

"Hell Lois, that was....you were amazing, incredible."

"Thank you; and I'll stroke your ego in return by saying ditto."

"Ditto, you can't think of anything better?" He asked politely.

"Ditto does mean 'back at you', y'know." She reminded him pointedly.

"It doesn't do much for a man's ego." He grumbled "I was nice enough to call you amazing and incredible, and all I get in return is a paltry ditto."

"Nice enough?" She queried gently. At his sulky nod, she heaved out a fake sigh and offered a compromise "Ok then how about this; the next time we should try doing it on hobbyhorse without falling off, and if we succeed I'll take your grade up from ditto to stupendous."

He'd laughed like a loon before asking with a huge grin "And what would you say if I got a hobbyhorse, and suggested that we try it out?"

"I'd say that you're on the bottom because I don't want splinters." She returned rapidly.

Clark had cackled with laughter once again, and pressed a swift hard kiss on her lips "I don't have one at the moment, but now that you've put that picture in my head I'm going to search high and low until I find one and buy it. You've given me a challenge and I'm going to live up to it."

"Then you'd better be quick..." At his quirked brow, she shrugged "You've only got ten weeks until I leave."

"If I can't find one, I'll make it myself. You and I have a date with destiny, and I'm going to make sure we keep that appointment."

"You mean we have a date with a hobby horse." She corrected with a smile.

"Exactly; as I just said, destiny." He grinned and nodded in confirmation.

With a snorting giggle Lois turned over, and closed her eyes. He really was a lot of fun. So far all signs pointed to it being a good summer.

oOo

Once Lois' car pulled out of the driveway, Clark zipped up into the night sky, flying sedately behind her to ensure that she arrived home safely. After x-raying down to check the house from back to front, he watched as she stepped inside and bolted the door before returning to the farm.

Undressed and in bed moments later, he smiled up at the ceiling. Tonight had turned out even better than he'd expected. After dinner he'd suggested they watch TV or listen to music, Lois had scoffed and told him to bring out any board games he had. So he did, and when she chose Chess, he'd had the enjoyable task of watching her turn almost vermilion with fury at being slaughtered.

The game had proceeded swiftly at first, with both of them moving their pieces with little hesitation. He'd quickly come to realise that Lois was an offensive player, with bold forceful moves and few errors. Since it was clear that she was confident in her skill, he'd decided the best way to win was to use the age old method of 'dumb-as-dirt; don't know what in hell I'm doing' strategy. And it had worked.

He grinned in recollection of how she'd started by smiling in glee, almost preening when it looked like she had him on the run. When he'd manoeuvred his pieces into the position that he'd wanted, sacrificing both a pawn and a knight to do it, her look had changed from glee to gloating. When he deliberately made a stupid move, Lois looked at him like he was crazy, and asked if he was sure he wanted to do it. After studying the board with pretend carefulness, he'd nodded cautiously, and took it on the chin when she happily captured his exposed bishop.

A moment later the feeling of smugness shifted from her to him when he advanced his pawn to reveal the trap he'd beguiled her into. The first time he'd said "Check" her eyes had flown to his, before searching the board for any escape routes. Her mutters of disbelief turned to resignation when she moved her king to get out of check, almost wincing when he made the next move and all but sang the word "check" again. His lips twitched in recollection at the sour expression on her face when she made the only move she could. The way her eyes had shot sparks of defiance, almost daring him to beat her hadn't phased him one whit. And when he'd smugly called out "Checkmate" a moment later, Lois had growled low in her throat before demanding both a rematch and her desert.

He'd happily consented, and wasn't surprised when their next match declared her the victor, but their third match saw the tide turn in his favour once again.

They'd had fun, and this time it wasn't all about sex. They'd chatted, laughed and torn up the sheets both before and after dinner; but not once did Lois act cool, dispassionate or even pissy. She'd been snarky at losing their last chess match, but since her way of getting even was to drive him crazy with passion, he wasn't going to complain about it.

He'd really enjoyed her company tonight, when he'd proposed the summer fling idea he really wasn't sure if he would. At the time it had been the most expedient and non-confrontational way of getting her agreement not to see other men since he didn't have the desire to see other women, but he'd had a really good time.

Yawning hugely, Clark patted the empty space beside him. Hopefully in the not too distant future, Lois would feel comfortable enough to begin sleeping with him. Her departure was the only part he hadn't enjoyed. However, since she'd kept to her side of the deal by not being indifferent towards him, he hadn't tried to back out of her one stipulation and coax her to stay, even though he'd wanted to.

At the trace of her perfume on the sheets, he sniffed deeply and closed his eyes. Maybe he wouldn't coax her to stay, but it couldn't hurt to remind her that she'd be welcome should she changed her mind. Burying his face in the pillow he sniffed again, and drifted off to sleep with the thought that if tonight was any indication, this was going to be a summer that he'd long remember.


	6. Chapter 6

**30****th**** June**

Clark whistled softly under his breath while scooping the scrambled eggs from the pan into a dish. Once done, he turned the bacon, stepped over to the fridge and grabbed the jug of juice, placing it on the table before returning to the stove.

In the 10 days since he and Lois had come to their arrangement things had definitely changed. Instead of kicking him out the house straight afterwards, she now kicked him out of bed and into the kitchen to cook breakfast. To be fair, that was mostly his doing. After suffering through her version of breakfast for two days running, he'd taken over and insisted on making it. Actually since she hadn't even tried to put up an argument, it wasn't really a matter of him insisting so much as offering, and Lois happily letting him.

Hearing the taps being twisted off, he turned his head, looked through the walls to the bathroom, and his lips lifted in appreciation at the sight of Lois raising her arms to wring the excess water out of her hair. His eyes swept up and down, his head tilted in consideration while his lips curved even more at the sight of her stepping out of the shower with beads of water clinging and snaking down her luscious form.

His thoughts of stepping into the bathroom long enough to scoop her up before striding back to the bedroom, came to a screeching halt at the loud hiss and pop. Wrenching his eyes back to the task at hand, he found the bacon which had been perfect before was now well beyond crispy, and the room was hazy with smoke. Quickly flipping off the stove, he flung open the back door and waved his hands before sweeping the last of the smoke from the room with a quick puff of super-breath. After scooping the bacon from the pan onto a platter, he put the bread into the toaster, and leant against the bench, glad that the eggs were ready and that he'd already made enough bacon before being distracted.

oOo

_8 days ago: 22 June_

Hearing the crunch of gravel on the drive, Clark looked through the window and smiled at seeing Lois behind the wheel. Turning his attention back to the stove, he flipped the pancake from the griddle onto the serving platter, and at the quick rap on the door called out for Lois to enter before pouring more batter onto the griddle.

Lois stepped into the house, zeroed in on him and put her hands on her hips "Now do you mind telling me just why you insisted that I come here at this ungodly hour of the morning?"

"Its 7am Lo, most people around here have been up and working for a couple of hours already."

"I'm on holiday." She replied stepping over to lean against the bench.

He snorted rudely at her words and flipped the pancake "Holiday or not, you wouldn't normally be up before 7am I'm sure."

"That's because I'm normal and not a crazy person." She retorted snottily.

"I'm not touching that statement." He grinned back and after transferring the pancake onto the platter, turned the griddle off "To answer your question, you're here because I want to eat breakfast, and since you won't give me any, I decided to make it for both of us."

"I gave you breakfast the last two mornings." She reminded him pointedly.

"Soggy cereal is not my idea of breakfast."

She shrugged in return "You could have had a pop-tart."

"I work on a farm, I do manual labour all day; cereal or pop-tarts are not enough to sustain me." He pointed out patiently.

"I guess not." She replied after sweeping her eyes up and down his body.

His lips curved "Now after breakfast..."

"After breakfast nothing! You missed your chance of morning nookie because you wanted to feed your face instead of satisfying another appetite, so now you have to wait for tonight." She smiled cockily.

"Will you give me dinner tonight?"

"The choice is yours; do you want me to give you dinner or sex?"

"I have to choose?" At her nod "Then I'll pick sex." Picking up the plate of pancakes and another which contained both sausage links and hash browns, he thrust them out "Can you carry these over, while I grab the juice and fruit?" She nodded and turned for the table, he stepped up quietly behind her, watched as she put her burdens down, and the moment she turned back, he bent and captured her lips with his.

"Umm."

After releasing her mouth, he stepped back minutely and smirked "Now to clarify my response; we'll be having dinner and sex, even if I have to make the meal and we eat it in bed."

"I don't like crumbs in the sheet."

"Then I'll take you on the kitchen table after dinner." He returned swiftly.

She sputtered out a laugh "Not going to miss out huh."

"Nope; once is more than enough." To seal the deal, he leant forward, set his hands on the table either side of her body to cage her in, and leaning forward sealed their lips together once again. Freeing her a moment later he smiled at seeing the dazed look on her face "Good morning."

"Um...uh huh..." After a quick head shake, Lois eyeballed him "Didn't we already say that?"

"Nope, you walked in and began asking questions instead of coming over and greeting me."

Her brow flew up "Oh; well next time I'll say good morning first."

"You do that." Stepping back, he pulled out her chair. After she was seated, he stepped over to the fridge, grabbed the bowl of fresh fruit he'd cut up earlier, and the jug of orange juice and returned to the table to take a seat opposite her.

"So what plans do you have for the day?"

"Today I'm going to visit one of the women so that she can show me her work, tomorrow I'll be doing the same with another." Lois replied reaching for a couple of pancakes and then the bowl of fruit.

"What work?"

"Their craft work."

Clark frowned in question "Why do you wanna see it?"

"Because I think it's good enough to be sold in my shop. However, as I'm pretty exacting on the quality of work I expect, I need to be sure so I'm going to see the different pieces they've done, and if in the end I'm right and they're interested in making money, then we just have to work out the details."

His brows rose "What details, it's just selling stuff in a shop."

Lois smiled and shook her head "You have no idea. Some people are happy with the idea of making money, but aren't happy with parting with their work if they don't know who's buying it. If that's not an issue, then we have to come to arrangements on what they'll be paid minus the commission we'll take etc etc." At his lifted brows she continued "For example, if we request a particular piece and the person is happy to make it, then we'll supply the materials but the time limit we've set has to be met, and although they'll get paid for their work and their time, it'll be less they would normally get since we've supplied the materials."

"All that just for selling something in a shop?" Clark asked surprised.

She shrugged off hand "Yep, a lot has to be worked out so that I'm happy, the artist is happy and ultimately the customer is happy. That's what makes a successful business; you should know that."

"Yeah but a restaurants different, once it's up and running it just has to be managed and we've got a very capable supervisor whose happy to look after it when mom's not here, so I'm only called on occasionally. Besides it was mom who took care of all the details, I helped out, but it was her who did the brunt of the work to get it up and running."

"Well I'm sure you remember that your mom did a lot of running around getting the Talon opened as a restaurant?" He nodded in reply, she inclined her head "Well it's much the same for me except I have to take care of all the details every time I find a new artist, as opposed to just doing it once to get the business of the ground." She finished before shovelling in a mouthful of pancake and fruit.

He nodded in understanding before spearing a few sausages, a couple of hash browns and two pancakes for himself, smiling inwardly when Lois' eyes flickered over the rest of the food on the table.

"You can relax. I promise not to eat all the food before you've had a chance to finish your pancakes and fruit." Clark informed her dryly and held back the chuckle when her eyes slid in his direction.

"I don't get a home cooked breakfast often, so I have to make sure that I don't miss out." She replied haughtily.

He smiled, picked up the platter and saw her eyes widen in alarm "One or two links?" He asked politely.

"Two and a couple of hash browns as well." She replied in the same vein, and nodding her head in thanks, resumed eating.

After breakfast was concluded, and the kitchen tidied, they strolled around the farm for a little while before making their way back to her car. Coming to a stop in front of the house, Lois looked around wistfully "When I came here for dinner the other night, I was surprised by the changes to the farm. I wasn't even sure if I was pulling into the right driveway at first until I saw the name on the sign."

"Yeah, when I decided to branch out and grow other vegetables aside from corn, the fields had to be adapted to accommodate whatever was growing in them, which of course changed the look of the whole farm." He looked around before turning back to face her "It is different but I've gotten used to it, so don't even notice it anymore."

Lois cocked her head to the side and pursed her lips "It is and it isn't. From the road the farm looks different, but standing here it doesn't. The house and yard look the same, but nothing else is. So it's kind of like taking a step forward in time, but backward as well."

Clark looked pleased and nodded "That was deliberate. I wanted to keep it the way it had been when dad was alive so..."

She nodded and patted his arm before pointing "Is your loft still there?"

"Nope, I got rid of that a long time ago, and use the space for storage now." Hooking an arm around her waist, Clark walked her backwards to her car, and pressed up against the door "So what are you making me for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Cereal." Lois replied readily.

He grimaced in return "I don't want cereal."

"Then you can have a protein shake."

"I gave you a proper breakfast and you're offering me cereal or a protein shake?" he demanded outraged.

"They're both perfectly acceptable alternatives." She returned loftily.

"Give me a break."

"If you want a cooked breakfast in the morning, then you're going to have to be the one to make it." She smiled sweetly.

"But that means you'll come over here and I'll miss out on the sex again."

"Yep."

"I don't want to lose the sex we have in the morning either." He grumbled low voiced.

Lois rolled her eyes heavenward "Well it's the cereal, shake or pop-tart and sex. Or the cooked breakfast; that you're making by the way, with no sex; take your pick."

He narrowed his eyes "It's the proper breakfast with sex; I'll just cook it at your place. Unless you've changed your mind and are willing to sleep here at the farm."

She shook her head "Nope, so if you're going to cook then I'd better go shopping today and pick up some stuff. What do I have to get?"

"Forget it, I'll go shopping to ensure that you have the right stuff at the house and bring it over with me tonight."

"Ok." At her more than willing response, his eyes narrowed once again "You tricked me."

"How?"

"I don't know how but you did."

"You're paranoid." After tugging open the car door, she slid inside and turned with a smile "See you tonight."

"Wait..." He called out before she could close the door. When she turned back with an innocent look of enquiry on her face, he sighed "Nothing, see you later."

oOo

At the sound of Lois' footsteps coming down the hall, Clark came back to the present with a start. He wasn't paranoid, she had tricked him and one day he was going to get even.

"What's for breakfast today?" Lois asked cheerfully stepping into the kitchen.

"Bacon with scrambled eggs and toast" He replied promptly.

She nodded, took a seat at the table and asked eagerly "So where is it?"

"The toast should be ready in a minute, but for now how about making yourself useful by grabbing the platter of food and pouring me a cup of coffee."

"I can do that." Getting up, she retrieved the platter and after setting it on the table poured them both some coffee "You know I've gotten to like you staying over for breakfast every morning."

He snorted loudly "Yeah because I'm the one who cooks it."

She smirked and shrugged "And your point is."

He laughed and when the toast popped out, put them in the rack with the others, before taking a seat at the table.

oOo

_45 minutes later_

"Before I forget, and so you can't accuse me of taking you for granted by asking at the last minute, how about attending the Smallville Fourth of July festivities with me?" Clark asked with a smile.

Lois thought about it for a long moment, and at his irritated huff, bit back a chuckle and replied solemnly "I'd love to."

"Great; well I'll see you later alright?" At her nod, he pulled the truck keys out of his pocket, turned as if to walk down the stairs then swung around with a look of innocence on his face "Don't forget you have to make dinner tonight."

"I know."

"It's because you lost when we played backgammon last night remember?"

"I remember." Lois silently prayed that he wouldn't rub it in.

"What's the proper way to say it; that you lost or that I won?" He contemplated out loud.

"Who cares?" She sniped in return.

Enjoying the disgruntled look on her face, he nudged once again "It's too bad we didn't have a re-match because no doubt you would have beaten me. That's what you said right?" Almost chewing her tongue off in a bid to keep silent, she waited patiently for what she knew was coming "Oh hang on we did have a re-match, and you lost that too." He taunted and bit back the laugh at the dirty look she shot at him.

"Fine, I lost are you happy?" Lois sighed in defeat.

"Yep, so what are you going to make me for dinner?"

"We've just eaten breakfast."

"I know but..."

Hoping to forestall any griping she cut him off "I'll worry about it later, I can't think about food when I'm full."

"Ok, but don't forget that I'm a man who does hard physical labour all day, so when I eat dinner I want something that's going to stick to my ribs and fill me up, not some frou frou crap that looks artistic on a plate." She nodded patiently and lifted her eyes heavenward when he continued "Salad, no matter what fancy name they give it, is still salad, and it's just a side dish. It does not in any way, shape or form constitute a proper meal."

"I know, you've told me this how many times now?" She asked tiredly.

"It bears repeating."

"I gave you salad once, just once and that was days ago; yet you still haven't let me forget it." She growled and when his mouth opened, rushed on "In fact you bitched so much that I phoned the pizza shop, ordered you a family sized fully loaded pizza, and when we went to pick it up, I even insisted on paying for it; remember."

He grunted rudely in response "I remember all the arguments you gave me for trying to pass the salad off as a meal; but when I didn't fall for any of it that was when you offered to buy me dinner." This time when her mouth opened, he continued "And if the salad had been enough then why'd you eat half of my pizza?"

Lois felt the flush creep up her neck and silently cursed "I only did that to save you from feeling like a greedy pig by gorging yourself in front of me."

"Rubbish! Once real food was in sight, rabbit food was no longer enough for you either." He countered flatly.

"I won't ever offer you salad for dinner again ok; now will you shut up about it?" She asked in the tone of one pushed beyond endurance.

He pursed his lips and conceded "You can offer it to me only as a side dish."

"Fine!" Lois ground out.

Glad that he'd made his point, but figuring that he'd better stop before she smacked him one, Clark nodded "So what are you going to do with yourself today?"

"First I'm going to take some tablets. For some mysterious reason I seem to have developed a monstrous headache in the last few minutes." She griped and ignored his smirk "After that I'm just going to kick back and take it easy."

"Haven't you been taking it easy for the last few weeks?"

"I'm on holiday..." She reminded him loftily "...besides for the past week I've been running around so now it's time for me to get back into relaxing again."

He nodded and bending down dropped a swift kiss on her cheek "Then you have fun relaxing and I'll see you tonight."

"Uh huh." When he was safely in his truck, she muttered under her breath "I have a feeling my headache will return when he does."

Hearing her words, Clark laughed silently to himself, backed the truck out of the driveway and tooted the horn as he drove away.

oOo

Stepping back inside the house, she shook her head and heaved out a huge sigh. The man was a pain in the rear end.

Ok, today she was going to relax right after she finished cleaning the house. House work wasn't something she cared for, but it was a necessary evil if she didn't want to end up living in a hovel. Three hours later Lois walked from room to room and smiled; everything was gleaming, the only thing left to do was hang out the last load of laundry, put fresh linen on the bed, and then she could put her feet up. 40 minutes later she smoothed the last sheet into place and took stock. All that cleaning had left her feeling hot, sticky, sweaty and decidedly yuk. If she sat down before having a cool fresh shower she'd never get up again.

Quickly making her way to the bathroom, Lois stripped down and stepped under the spray. After soaping down and rinsing off, she sighed in delight, lifted her face to the stream and let out a small choked laugh in remembrance at the number of times that Clark had joined her in the shower over the past 10 days. He was so completely opposite to the boy who'd hidden behind the shower curtain when she'd walked in on him years ago. Come to think of it, he was now so uninhibited that he was actually more like the boy she'd first me. The one who'd stood unblushingly naked in front of her without even a sliver of embarrassment. That boy had had no shame, and the man was just like him.

Clearly he'd either outgrown or disposed of the timid side of his personality, and embraced the self confident. Back in the day she would have been surprised if he could talk about sex without stammering, these days she wouldn't be surprised if he had no reservations in tumbling her down in the middle of town square regardless of spectators.

Twisting of the taps, she stepped out of the shower, wrapped her hair in one towel, and dried down with another before wrapping it around her body and making her way back to the bedroom. After smoothing on lotion, she combed then bunched her hair on top of her head then dressed in shorts and t-shirt before making her way to the kitchen for a glass of iced-tea.

Returning to the lounge room, she took a seat on the couch in front of the fan and sighed in bliss. When the phone rang, she groaned, walked into the kitchen and picked up the receiver "Hello."

"Hi Lois, it's Ginny Roberts."

"Hey Ginny how are you?"

"I'm good; listen a few of us are getting together over at Anne's house in a little while and I was wondering if you'd like to join us."

"Sure, what time?"

"1.30; I can pick you up if you like."

"No that's fine, I know where Anne lives so I'm good; do I need to bring anything?"

"Just yourself."

"Ok see you then." After placing the receiver back on the cradle, she took a seat and sighed. She been looking forward to doing nothing but spending the day in solitude, but the ladies were so hospitable that refusing without a good reason would just be churlish. Checking the clock and seeing that it was just on quarter to 12, she opened the fridge, but not feeling in the least hungry closed the door again. More than likely there'd be snacks at Anne's house so eating now was pointless. Heading to the bedroom she changed, and returned to the lounge room to keep occupied with her sewing before it was time to leave.

oOo

_1.45pm Anne Beards House_

"So what's the get together for, or is this just an excuse for a gossip session?" Lois asked with a straight face but the quiver in her voice was unmistakeable.

"Lois we don't gossip, we share information." Mavis Dixon chided gently.

"Right, sorry I forgot." She nodded back solemnly before looking around "So who has information they want to share?"

Anne straightened up after placing her son Peter in his play pen and smiled sheepishly "Well actually, we're hoping that you do."

"Me!"

"Uh huh." All the ladies nodded.

"Ok, well if I'm leading the discussion then I think we should talk about..."

"You and Clark!" Kate Fulcher cut in decisively.

"Oh I see; I'm the one in the hot seat." She clarified politely before picking up a cookie and biting in "These are good."

"Yeah they are, but c'mon we want details."

"What details?" She asked innocently.

"Looois!"

She grinned at Ginny's theatrical whine then turned her head at the voice on her left.

"You have to admit that we've been patient." Tina Freeman told her firmly, she nodded in accord "We haven't grilled you for details, haven't hinted, or even tried to sneakily extract information from you." She nodded again.

"And you have to further admit that you and Clark have given everyone in town a lot to talk about, but we've been very..." Anne paused and Tina supplied "Patient..."

"You said that already." Lois reminded them, and laughed when they all growled.

"Fine; we've been very lenient and haven't pressed you for details, but it's been nearly a week now and we can't stand the suspense anymore." Tina all but pleaded.

"But there's nothing to really tell."

"Huh." The ladies all scoffed together.

Lois looked at all present and threw up her hands "Fine, what'd you want me to say?"

"You and Clark; what's going on and just how serious is it?" Kate questioned hurriedly.

Not giving her a chance to reply Ginny asked eagerly "Is he taking you to the festival on the fourth?"

Lois opened her mouth but was once again beaten to the punch when Mavis chuckled "Of course he is, after the display we all either saw or heard about, I doubt that he'd let anyone else take you; right Lois?"

"Well..."

"There have been quite a few women who've had their eye on him over the years, but he's never shown a lick of interest back." Anne smiled and patted Lois' hand "Then you come along and he's kissing you in front of the whole town."

Lois felt the flush creep up her neck and coughed.

"And we all know why he did that." Kate winked knowingly "He was making sure all the men in town got the message; hands off!"

"It wasn't that..." She began weakly.

"Oh yes it was, he didn't lower his voice when he told you that was the reason and people heard him." Ginny laughed in amusement.

"The same people who saw and heard what happened both before and after that by the way." Mavis put in gently.

"We've also heard how he joined you and Neil for coffee." Tina put in amused.

Lois shook her head quickly "That was nothing; Clark just happened to be in town when he saw us, so thought he'd come over and say hi..." When the women laughed, she flushed but confirmed stoutly "It's true."

"Reeeeally..." Tina drawled "...and what was his reason for telling Neil to buzz off when he sat down to join the two of you for lunch a few days ago?"

"I don't know what got into him..." At the hoots she held up her hands in supplications "I couldn't believe he was so rude and told him so."

"And what did he say?"

"He said that Neil would understand."

"Oh I think that everyone who was in the Talon that day understood." Mavis smiled genially.

"And if they didn't understand then, well I'd say they got the picture when they heard about Clark kissing you outside the Talon afterwards." Anne grinned and wiggled her brows.

"And if they still didn't get it, well I'd say they did when they also heard about what happened after that." Kate finished quickly.

Lois felt the flush once again creep up her neck "He ticked me off."

"Men can do that to us dear, but we still wouldn't want to be without them." Mavis put in and all the women nodded in accord.

Tina sighed hugely in disappointment "Unfortunately I missed it all, but I did hear a blow by blow account from three different people."

"Oh it was fabulous, better than anything you'll see in the movies." Anne smiled big and wide "I didn't catch the preview in the Talon, but I did see the main show when they were going at it outside." She fanned herself dramatically "Woo; the kiss, the banter and arguing afterwards; it was really romantic. I'm telling you, the only thing missing was the popcorn."

Feeling the need to hide behind something, Lois picked up another cookie and bit in.

"Well I did catch the preview in the Talon and believe me, there was no misunderstanding which way the wind was blowing." Ginny laughed in delight then just as quickly frowned "It was really frustrating though, I mean I had my ear trained on their table trying to hear what was being said, but couldn't get much. Between the stupid kids who wouldn't stop talking, and the stupid wait staff who kept interrupting by delivering peoples orders, I only heard a word here or there. I did think about walking past their table a few times, but how much can you really hear doing that?"

Embarrassment gone at Ginny's words, Lois' shoulders shook with laughter "I'm sitting right here."

Ginny nodded unconcerned "I know, so if it happens again can you make sure that you all talk louder."

She burst out laughing "I thought that I had no shame, but you ladies take the cake."

"We know." Kate agreed heartily "So...?"

Lois threw up her hands in defeat "Yes Clark and I are dating, and yes he's taking me to the festival..." At the smiles all round, she shook her head "But I'm leaving at the end of August remember, so we're only seeing each other while I'm here on holiday."

"Do you have to leave?" Anne asked soberly.

"Yeah I do."

"And is Clark ok with that?" Mavis asked carefully.

"Yeah he's fine. We've talked about it, and we both know this is just a holiday...romance." She finished diplomatically "Neither of us are looking for a lifetime commitment, or expecting to have more than we do right now. However, that doesn't mean we're not going to enjoy ourselves while I'm here; but please don't get any ideas ok?" She smiled to take the sting out of her words, and they all nodded slowly in response "Thank you."

Driving home an hour later Lois shook her head in amusement. She'd known that sooner or later the inquisition was coming. From the day she'd saved Peter in the supermarket, people, and in particular the women had gone out of their way to befriend her. Gratitude would account for the hand of friendship being held out, but it was her old connection with the Kent's, and living in Smallville years ago that she believed accounted for why she'd so readily been initiated into the inner circle, and treated as a member of the community.

She knew that people were talking about her and Clark, so had expected to get the third degree, but figured that it could have been worse. Besides the ladies had been right; not once in the last week had anyone said a word to her, people had smiled but otherwise kept silent. Furthermore, it was the women who'd done most of the talking today, all they'd really wanted was confirmation from her, so all in all she'd come away fairly unscathed from the encounter.

Although she preferred to keep her private life private, she'd figured that sharing some details wouldn't hurt, especially if it stopped any long term romantic speculation about her and Clark cold in its tracks. Since she'd all but smelt the orange blossom in the air while the ladies were talking, she'd felt bad for bursting their balloon but felt it was better than allowing them to believe her relationship with Clark would end in wedding bells. She'd seen the disappoint in their eyes, but cutting off that kind of thinking now, would save her and Clark from anyone later anticipating the news of a joyous announcement that was never going to be made.

Swinging the car into the driveway, she turned off the ignition, stepped out of the car and made her way in doors. After grabbing a glass of iced water, she headed out the back door to lie in the hammock.

Wiggling to get comfortable, Lois stretched and yawned, closed her eyes and Clark's face flashed behind her lids. He was so much fun. He could certainly be autocratic and arrogant, but instead of turning her off, it turned her on. Before ever meeting him she'd heard the name Clark Kent so often from her cousin that she'd been thoroughly sick of it. When she did meet him, he'd left a less than favourable impression on her. After getting to know him, she'd wondered what on earth it was about him that had captivated Chloe so much; and after leaving Smallville she'd been more than happy to forget him.

While living with his family she thought that she'd gotten to know him pretty well and maybe back then it was true. Maybe when he was younger all she saw was all there was. A boy who had nothing to recommend him to snag her interest; but the man was a different kettle of fish altogether. Taking the mind blowing sex they had out of the equation; she liked him.

She couldn't say that about many, if any of the men that she'd slept with over the past few years. Actually she couldn't even say that she knew anything about them, she hadn't wanted to know. But spending time with Clark over the past 10 days had made her see him with new eyes. Years ago he'd left her cold, now he was just the kind of man that she was attracted to; charming, entertaining, witty, and a good conversationalist. He was also incredibly sexy even when he was being exceptionally tactless, or infuriatingly blunt.

His bluntness by turns made her want to laugh, yell, or hit him; then there were other times when she felt like hitting him and then kissing him to make it all better. Less than a week ago he'd made her so angry that she'd felt like doing all four in swift procession. Thankfully she'd retained enough common sense to only yell at him...ok so she also poked him with her finger a few times but she hadn't laughed. Ok so she'd laughed a little bit, but she hadn't kissed him. Not that he'd been one bit phased by either the yelling or the poking. If anything his manner had been one of amused tolerance, which had just ticked her off even more.

And it was this incident which had the whole town talking. She wished that she could blame Clark for getting everyone stirred up, but had to be fair so accepted her share of the blame. He'd certainly driven her to acting like a harpy in public, but...no actually it was all his fault!

oOo

_6 Days ago: 24 June_

Stepping inside the dimness of the Talon, Lois allowed her eyes to adjust from the brightness outside before looking around. Spying Clark sitting at a table, she made her way over and took a seat, smiling in thanks at the tall glass of water he handed to her. After gulping down half the contents greedily, she blew out a breath and swiped a hand over her brow "God it's hot out there."

"And it's only going to get hotter as summer progresses."

"Thanks for the weather bulletin."

He grinned and leant forward to whisper "How about we go skinny dipping at the lake tonight."

"No thank you."

"Why not?"

"Because more than likely other people will have the same idea, and if Smallville's the kind of town that turns into a nudist colony where it's a free for all after dark, I'd really prefer to remain in ignorance of that fact."

He pursed his lips "Have you ever been to a nudist resort?"

"Nope, and before you get any bright ideas I'm not interested in going to one."

"Shame; have you ever been skinny dipping?"

"Yep."

"Hmm."

"Hmm what?" She asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Clark replied breezily "Do you want to wait a while before ordering lunch?"

"Nope I'm hungry now, where's a menu?"

"It's written up on the board, and since its lunch time only light meals are on offer."

She nodded, and turned around to peruse the choices available before turning back "I'll have the grilled tuna salad; what about you?"

"I'm going to have the chunky toasted steak sandwich with fries. Do you want anything to drink?"

"Yeah I'll have a glass of white wine thanks."

"Sorry we're only licensed to sell alcohol after 6pm."

"So it's pointless asking for a lemon, lime and bitters; assuming you even make them here."

"We do, but even though the alcohol percentage is laughingly pathetic it's still not available until…" He trailed of meaningfully.

"After 6pm, got it." She finished then quirked a brow "Ever thought of being licensed for lunch?"

"Yep, especially on days like this when it's stinking hot and ice cold beer would go down real easily." Clark admitted with a smile.

"Oh god yes…ok, I'll just have a lemon squash then."

Nodding, he made his way to the counter, put in their orders and returned a few minutes later with their drinks in hand "So have you convinced anyone to sell their work in your shop?" Clark asked after taking a gulp of his coke.

Nodding, he made his way to the counter, put their orders in then returned to his seat "So have you convinced anyone to sell their work in your shop?"

"Yep, I've got already got one lady signed up and it didn't take much convincing at all." Lois replied smugly lifting her glass in a toast.

"Ok so now that I've made the effort to sound interested in something other than your body, let's get back to more important matters. How can I get you to go skinny dipping with me?"

She gurgled out a laugh "You call asking one question _interested_?"

"Hey, it shows that I'm a sensitive guy." He grinned at her snort before encouraging "So..."

"Install a pool at the farm."

"I'd never get it up before you leave." At her giggle, he sent her a dry look "I was talking about the pool."

They were still cheerfully discussing the topic while waiting for their meals to arrive, then began talking of this and that while eating lunch. Noting that the decibel level had risen considerably in the past half hour, Lois looked around before turning back to her companion "Is this place always so busy during the day?"

"Yeah, it gets a goodly amount of traffic." Clark replied in satisfaction before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"I thought most people would eat at home on their farms."

He swallowed and bobbed his head "A lot of them do but there's also a lot of single men and women who don't want to bother cooking a meal for themselves, plus we get those who work in town during the week, the college kids and a few others."

She didn't have time to respond before a voice called out cheerfully over her shoulder "Hey Clark..." who likewise didn't have time to speak before the greeter took a seat beside her and smiled "Hi Lois."

Gulping back a chuckle at the sour expression on Clark's face, she smiled in return "Hi Neil."

"How have you been?"

"I've been good; you?"

"The same; are the two of you having lunch?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yes." Lois nodded automatically.

"Have you nearly finished?"

"No." Clark replied simply.

"Oh good, I'd feel ridiculous if you got up and left just when I joined you." He returned pleasantly before looking around the packed room absently "You don't mind right?"

Lois bit her lip, shook her head and choked back the laughter that once again caught in her throat.

"Beat it." Clark retorted bluntly.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"No." She replied kindly.

"Yes, so be a pal and get lost." Clark put in swiftly.

"Clark!" Lois frowned before turning to the other man "Don't listen to him Neil; you're welcome to stay."

"No he's not." Clark contradicted pleasantly.

"Clark!" She repeated, and glared at him for good measure. Not that he seemed bothered by her giving him 'the look', as he merely shrugged and cocked one brow in challenge.

"It's ok Lois, unlike somebody else I know who shall remain nameless…" Neil shot an amused but pointed look at his friend "…I know when I've barged in where I'm not wanted, so I'll make myself scarce."

"Do you think he's having a dig at me?" Clark asked her pensively.

"What'd you think?" She retorted with a slight touch of sarcasm.

Neil grinned and pushed back his seat but instead of getting up, addressed her instead "Um, I know this is short notice, but I was wondering if you'd liked to go to the movies with me tonig..."

"She's booked." Clark cut in deliberately.

"I believe he was talking to me." Lois hissed before smiling in regret at the other man "I'm sorry Neil, I already have a date tonight."

"Well maybe tomor..."

"She'll be booked then too." He interrupted once again.

"Will you shut up?" She growled impatiently.

"I wouldn't have to say anything if you'd hurry up and tell him no already." Clark shook his head in reproof "No man likes a tease."

"I am not being a tease."

"What would you call it?"

"I'd call it having some manners; ever heard of them?"

"Yep, but since I already have them, I asked the good fairy to give me an extra dose of charm." He replied complacently.

"Well you were short changed in both." She retorted swiftly.

"So I'm guessing by the tone of this conversation that Lois is going to be booked for some time to come." Neil cut into their conversation to ask.

"Yes." Clark answered not giving her a chance to do anything but huff in irritation.

"With you right?"

"Right."

"Ah hum…" She coughed loudly "I can speak for myself."

"Sorry Lois." Neil apologised promptly.

"That's ok, besides as much as it pains me to admit it; Clark's right. I'm not going to be free for the next little while." She admitted sheepishly.

His lips quirked in understanding "I thought that might be the case, but figured it was about time that I paid him back in kind for horning in on _our_ coffee date."

"As you said Neil, a man has to be quick to catch this one." He grinned unrepentant.

One brow rose in polite enquiry "So just to make sure that I have this straight; you weren't asking me out?" Lois clarified gently.

"No, I mean yes..." He took a deep breath and stumblingly began again "See I was going to call you at home later, but when I joined you both it didn't take me long to figure out what the score was so changed my mind. But then I thought it couldn't hurt to have some fun at Clark's expense..." She nodded slowly in comprehension, as Neil continued trying to explain.

"You're turning the man down so what does it matter?" Clark cut in loudly.

She flicked her eyes in his direction "It the principal of the thing."

He grunted loudly in disbelief "It's the ego of the thing more like."

"I wouldn't talk to me about egos when yours is as big as the Grand Canyon." She sniped in return.

When Neil let out a shout of laughter, Clark turned to him "Just think buddy; if I hadn't stepped in and saved you from her, this is what you'd have to put up with." He remarked, thumbing in her direction. When her eyes narrowed, he shook his head sadly "Not a pretty picture is it?"

"I'm happy to take her off your hands." Neil replied with a huge grin.

"No no, I couldn't ask anyone to make that kind of sacrifice for me." He waved his hand.

"I wouldn't consider it a sacrifice at all, more of a privilege."

She smirked at Clark before turning to the other man "Why thank you Neil. It is so rare to meet an honest to goodness gentleman these days that I was beginning to think the concept of such a creature was just a myth or an urban legend, but you've restored my faith." She finished by smiling sweetly.

He inclined his head very briefly and replied in a voice that quivered only slightly "You're very welcome Lois, and may I just say in return what an honour it is to meet a lady of quality like yourself."

"Will you two give it a rest? My stomachs weak enough already, it certainly can't take the punishment of listening to anymore of that rot without heaving." Clark interjected with a grimace before gesturing to his friend with a flick of his head "I wish that you'd stop sucking up and leave before her head gets any bigger."

Neil grinned widely and getting to his feet, turned to leave before quickly swinging round "I think that I at least deserve to get lunch on the house today."

"What for?"

"Because I'm being nice enough to take myself off instead of hanging around like you did."

"I think you should pay for my lunch after making me listen to the syrupy crap you just spouted."

Neil stepped towards the table again "Well then I guess that I'll be joining you for lunch after all; you don't mind Lois?"

"Not at all, please do…" She swept out her hand to the seat beside herself.

He shook his head "No that's ok, I'll sit here beside Clark then I can converse with you so much easier; and I'll have something pretty to look at while eating."

"Something pretty to look at while eating; puhleease…" Clark snorted indelicately. When she reached over and smacked his arm, his brows lifted "Lady of quality, yeah right?"

She stuck out her tongue, saw the quick laughter spring to his eyes, and opened her mouth to retort but stopped when he turned his head, looked at his friend and asked politely "Are you still here?"

"I don't get the free lunch, I'm sticking around." Neil replied amiably.

"Fine you've got it, now shove off!"

"See ya." He smiled happily and got to his feet but didn't get the chance to step away before being addressed.

"Tell Dean not to waste his time either. You both had one coffee date with her and that's all you're getting so be happy with it." Clark informed Neil pleasantly, and at Lois' loud gasp turned to her "What?"

"What! You actually have the gall to ask me _**what**_?" She asked incredulous.

"Now what bees in your bonnet?" He demanded and threw up a hand in question.

She turned to Neil incredulous "Can you believe this man?"

He rubbed his chin and nodded "Yeah, Clark is what's known as a rough diamond."

"Not a diamond, a cubic zircon." Lois corrected bluntly.

"Ow…" Clark grinned and clutched at his heart theatrically, then turned to his friend with cocked brow "Goodbye."

"I guess that's my cue to leave." With a cheerful wave, Neil left to join a group of men at another table.

"I can't believe you were so rude." She informed Clark the minute they were alone.

"Neil understood." He shrugged carelessly.

"Do you always talk to people like that?"

"Nope, just to my friends."

"I'd hate to hear how to talk to someone who's not a friend."

"With them I'm extremely courteous and civil."

"But you feel comfortable enough to tell your friends to get lost."

"Yep."

"So as Neil didn't tell you to push off when you horned in on my coffee date with him, does that mean he doesn't consider you a friend?" She asked straight faced.

"You wrong the man, of course he does." Clark reproached gently "The problem is that he was trying to impress you by being nice, so didn't feel like he could tell me to get lost even though he must have wanted to. Whereas I already knew you thought that I was a jerk, so had nothing to lose by horning in your date and talking about subjects not appealing to women." He scratched his chin and continued smugly "That was pretty clever of me when you think about it. By chatting to him about stuff that only another farmer would be interested in, thereby excluding you from the conversation entirely, he never even saw me as a threat so didn't even realise that I was actually snaffling you right from under his nose the whole time." He shook his head in fake sorrow "Neil's a good friend, but he is a bit of a slow top."

"You can stop patting yourself on the back anytime now." She informed him dryly "It wasn't clever of you; it just goes to show that he's a gentleman and you're not."

"True, the poor guy must have thought you'd think he was a prince in comparison to me."

"He was right."

"Hmm, it's really too bad for you that you like the common touch then isn't it?"

"The common touch!" She repeated incensed.

"Mmm hmm; after all, is it him the prince and gentleman who turns you on like a house afire, or me?" He asked with smug self-assurance.

"Oh be quiet and finish your lunch." Lois replied crossly and reaching over, grabbed one of his fries and shoved it in his mouth before continuing to tuck into her meal.

Clark chewed and smirked but _was_ kind enough not to push the issue further.

Stepping out of the shop an hour later, Lois turned right and had taken no more than a few steps forward when he called out "Hey where are you going?"

Spinning on her heel, she pointed over her shoulder "To my car."

Clark sighed heavily, stepped forward until he was standing right in front of her and hooked a thumb over his shoulder "My trucks that way."

"I'll see you later then."

"Yeah."

"Thanks for lunch." Lois turned to leave, when she felt his hand slide around the back of her neck and grasp it gently. She turned in question but didn't even have time to squeak before his lips pressed softly against hers. Smiling she pecked him back and began to move away only to find his arms were now locked tight around her waist.

"Wha..."

His lips pressed against hers again, once, twice.

"Cla..."

Her words were cut off as his mouth locked fully onto hers.

She didn't know how long they'd been at it when the hoots, giggles and murmurs finally broke through and caught her attention, but knew it had been long enough that they should have sold tickets to the performance. Wedging her hands between them, she pushed against Clark's chest, wrenched her mouth free, and took a step back when his arms loosened slightly. Shooting a mortified smile to the audience they'd been entertaining, she silently groaned and began to tug at the arms still clasped loosely around her waist.

"Will you let go already?" Lois muttered under her breath.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!"

"Kill joy." Dropping his arms, Clark took a step back and licked his lips.

"Now..." She cleared her throat and tried again "Now do you mind explaining what that was for?"

"What was what for?" He asked innocently.

"The kiss."

"Oh the kiss; no reason, I just felt like kissing you." He smiled, and leaning forward pecked her lips once more "I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah." She wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but saw no point in making a bigger deal of it than necessary, and with a nod, turned and began to walk away. At the pleased smiles, the curiosity and speculation on the faces around her, she stopped then whipped around quick smart "Clark!" When he turned to her with brows lifted in polite enquiry, Lois saw the satisfied look on his face and it clicked. Storming back to him, she poked him in the chest and demanded "What was the real reason you just kissed me?"

He pursed his lips and shrugged "To ensure that other men got the clear message that you were taken."

"WHAT!"

He smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear "You heard."

"I can't believe you just did that."

"You should."

"Is that why you asked me to meet you for lunch?"

"Nope, I was going to ask you to come out to the farm for lunch but didn't have anything ready, so thought the Talon would do. But when Neil joined us, I figured that having lunch at in town was perfect since everyone would see us. As we were leaving, I decided it was way past time that everyone got the message that we were having more than just a casual lunch date, so decided to kiss you." He paused and tacked on slowly "That's not to say that I expected us to practically eat each other in front of the whole town because I didn't. I just thought a somewhat small kiss would do the trick. However, with you I seem to have almost no self control, and promptly forgot everything except the way you feel in my arms the moment I had you in them."

Lois goggled at him for a minute before snapping her mouth closed. She didn't know whether to hit him for his temerity, laugh at his honesty, or kick him from frustration. She took several deep breaths, before spinning on her heel, only to storm back again. Seeing the patient look on his face made her blood pressure shoot up, and turning around she began to stalk off without speaking.

"I'll see you tonight at six."

"No you won't." She called out and kept walking.

"Yes I will."

At the self assurance in his voice, she spun and stormed back again "Now you listen to me Clark Kent, I've had just about enough of your highhanded manner. I do not appreciate overbearing displays of machismo, I am not your property, and if I say that I won't be seeing you tonight, then I won't be seeing you tonight; clear!"

At the guffaw of laughter, Lois flicked her eyes to the side, and smiled weakly at the people gathered around, before fixing her eyes back on the man who was currently the cause of her elevated blood pressure.

"Perfectly..." He replied mildly "...but I'll still be seeing you tonight."

That did it; flinging decorum and every other consideration to the wind Lois lost it and began to verbally rip into him. She knew that she was making a spectacle of herself, but didn't care. This MAN was going to drive her to the edge of insanity. Finally coming to a stop in front of him, she ignored both the crowd and wretched burn of colour that she knew was on her face.

"Finished?" Clark asked politely.

Now that he'd asked, NO! He'd just reminded her of something else that she wanted to get through his thick head.

"And another thing..."

"I see that you haven't." He muttered loudly.

"I'll thank you not to speak for me when men ask me out. I know how to turn down dates, and don't need your help to do so." Lois informed him brusquely.

"Then you should have done it to save me the trouble." He returned blandly.

"Maybe if you didn't like the sound of your own voice so much, you would have shut up for one minute so that I could have gotten a word in edgewise." She accused wrathfully.

"Well as you appeared to be struggling with telling him 'no', I decided to help you out."

"When I want your help I'll ask for it."

"So noted; now are you done?"

"Yes...no...grrrr."

"Well since you seem to have run out of words for the moment, I guess it's safe for me to go." He smiled nicely and leaning forward pressed a kiss against her cheek "I'll see you tonight, and if you like I'll even sit quietly while you tell me off again."

"Is that all you can say." She demanded pugnaciously.

"Not at all..." Leaning down he whispered "Seeing you pacing up and down like a caged tiger while telling me off has me so turned on so badly that I don't know if I'll be able to walk to my truck without help..." he smiled and tacked on "...carry me."

Lois gave a choked gurgle before quickly whipping around and presenting him with her back. When she felt capable of talking she turned back, but one look at his face was too much and she burst out laughing. Looking around minutes later she was pleased to find the crowd had gone, and only the usual pedestrian traffic was now in the street "Well thank goodness everyone's finally decided to give us some privacy."

"They left because the show was over and wanted to spread the news; not to give us privacy." Clark informed her cheerfully.

"What news?" She asked warily.

"What news do you think?" He asked rhetorically.

"But..."

"The Smallville grapevine will be running hot today, and guess who's going to be the number one topic?"

"Me." Lois asked in trepidation.

"Us." He corrected her gently.

"But..."

"The kiss would have been enough for everyone to know that we're seeing each other, but I'd say that your little display has cemented our relationship quite firmly." Her mouth dropped open, he pecked her nose and chuckled "Try telling anyone we're not a couple after this, and I guarantee they won't believe you."

He'd been right. She hadn't wasted time testing his theory, she hadn't needed to. However, that hadn't stopped her from giving him what for when he'd turned up that night; and although he'd kept his word and stayed silent while she'd railed at him, when she was done Clark had simply replied that he could think much more delightful ways for her to take out all her frustrations out on him, which had made her laugh.

Shaking her head, Lois let out a laughing sigh. He really was a good time, he was the best time that she'd had in her life.

Getting up from the hammock, she picked up the glass from the table and walked back inside the house. A quick look at the clock confirmed it was just after 4pm, which meant that she'd better get started on dinner. After looking in the freezer, she opened the fridge then swung it shut and considered. Ok, so she had to make dinner, well making it could mean buying it. There was there to say that she had to actually cook the damn thing. Nodding firmly she decided; they were going out for dinner, and she'd pay.

Stepping over to the phone, she picked the receiver up from the cradle then put it back down again. There were three restaurants they could have dinner at, but if they went to the Talon, then dinner would be on the cheap. After all, surely Clark wouldn't expect her to pay if they ate in an establishment that he owned; so it wouldn't be like she'd actually lost. Smiling she picked up the phone and put it down once again. Oh who was she kidding; he'd make her pay alright. It would be like a double victory for him. He'd enjoy eating a hearty meal in an establishment that he owned at her expense, knowing that his pockets were going to be lined with her lucre because she'd lost their stupid game.

The next time they played backgammon or chess or anything else, she was going to win, and then Clark Kent would learn that Lois Lane could swagger triumphantly louder and better than him. But for now she'd better go to the supermarket. Tonight they were going to have ham, no they'd have a selection of cold cuts and salad for dinner, and if Clark dared to say one word, just one; she'd hit him.

Lois picked up the car keys and was reaching for her purse when the phones shrill tone caught her by surprise. Hanging up a few minutes later, her brows scrunched together in a frown. She didn't know what Clark was up to, but if it was going to save her from having to make or buy dinner then she wasn't going to ask questions.

oOo

After clicking off his phone, Clark tucked it in his pocket, rubbed the side of his chin and considered. He could be setting up a bad precedent. Lois might see his gesture of postponing the dinner she owed him as a sign that all bets were null and void. Actually he knew that she would. Ah well, he'd just have to make it clear that he was giving her a reprieve for tonight only, but she still owed him. But for now he still had a couple of hours before she was due, which gave him plenty of time to set everything up.

oOo

_Almost 6.30 pm_

Seeing Lois' car coming down the driveway, Clark pushed up from where he was leaning against his truck and when her car came to a halt, he stepped forward, opened her car door and quickly ushered her to his truck.

"Here you go, hop in."

"What why?"

"Because we're going somewhere."

"Where?"

"You'll see."

Closing the door, he stepped around to the driver's side, hopped behind the wheel and got comfortable.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out soon enough." He repeated casually.

"But I'm not dressed up to go out."

"You look fine."

"You told me to forget about making dinner, that you were supplying it and to meet you at the house, but you didn't say anything about dressing up." Lois huffed and crossed her arms "Why didn't you tell me to dress up?"

"Because you didn't need to get dressed up."

"But if we're going out..."

"We're not going out."

"Then why are we in the truck?"

Instead of answering he scrubbed his hands over his face, before turning his head and looking her over. She was wearing the same outfit that she'd worn the first day he'd found her sleeping in the hammock, short jean shorts, and shirt tied at the waist but this time she was wearing sandals. Her hair was bunched on top of her head, her face was free of makeup but she was wearing lip gloss and perfume. She looked and smelt simply delectable "You look good from where I'm sitting."

"But I can't go out to dinner looking like this."

"We're not going out to dinner." He replied patiently and switched on the ignition.

"You said that you'd feed me." Lois yelped outraged.

"I am going to feed you."

"When?" She demanded.

"Soon." Reaching out he turned on the radio.

"Clark, there better be food at the end of this little trip."

"There will be." He replied and nudged the volume up higher.

"But..."

"Will you stop asking questions?"

"If I didn't know you I'd be worried." When his mouth opened, Lois rushed on determinedly "That wasn't a question it was a statement."

"And what would you be worried about exactly?"

"About whether you're taking me somewhere secluded, so that you can chop me up and stash my body in little pieces all over your farm."

"You have a very vivid imagination."

"That's what happened to that girl in the stupid horror movie you made me watch last night." She sniffed disdainfully.

Clark sighed heavily "If the girl had nagged at the killer the way you're now doing to me, then I can well understand why he did it, and he has all my sympathy."

"He was a psycho." Lois retorted loudly.

"Yeah well I bet if we'd gotten his back-story, we would have discovered that he'd known her years before and she'd turned him into one." Clark muttered darkly.

Lois snorted but otherwise stayed quiet for a minute before bursting out with her next lot of questions. He drove along ignoring her, and reaching over nudged the volume up again to drown out her voice. Stopping the truck a few minutes later, he parked in the shade of a huge tree, switched off the ignition and turned to her "I have a surprise for you."

"Dinner?"

"Will you stop thinking about your stomach for one minute?" Climbing out of the truck, he stepped around to the back, and retrieved the giant cooler he'd stashed there earlier. "Can you grab the blanket and bag?"

Lois picked up both and huffed "Why didn't you just tell me we we're having a picnic?"

"Because you didn't give me a chance to say much of anything." He informed her drolly "It took less than seven minutes to drive from the farmhouse to here, and you didn't stop firing questions at me long enough for me to speak."

She grinned unrepentant "Where are we anyway?"

"At the far end of the back field"

"But if we're still on your land then why did it take so long to get here."

"It didn't take long, but I'm not just going to drive my truck through the fields and destroy the crops, so we had to take the access paths in between." He explained patiently.

"So why are we here?"

"You'll find out in a minute..." When her mouth opened again, he continued talking hoping to shut her up "We're out here because it's completely private. So no one will be able to see us, not even accidentally from the main road since we're so far away from everything including the house."

"But I can see the house, just barely but I can still see it."

Rolling his eyes, he led the way around the tree, set his burden down and turned to find Lois looking at him incredulous "What'd you think?"

She turned, looked and shook her head "You've gotta be kidding."

He turned and smiled "What's the problem? You told me to get a pool, so I got a pool."

"It's a kiddies wading pool."

"It's a pool, and it's the largest one they had; besides we'll get wet which is the whole point." Seeing that she still wasn't impressed he held out his hand "What more do you want?"

"More than this."

"It's better than nothing."

"I don't know about that." She muttered ungraciously and dumped her own burdens on the ground.

"You said no to skinny dipping at the lake, so this is the next best thing." Squatting down he opened the sports bag, pulled out a couple of towels and tossed them down "I even brought our swim suits."

Taking her suit from his hand, she groused "If we're supposed to be skinny dipping; although I don't see how we can in that joke of a pool, then why do we have suits?"

"Will you stop criticising the pool; it's going to be great, trust me."

"Trust you, oh yeah like that's going to happen." Lois muttered loudly and stalked off to the truck.

"Where are you going?"

"To get changed."

"I've seen you naked a hundred times Lo."

"This is different."

Shrugging, he unbuttoned his shirt, tossed it down, took off his jeans, boots and underwear and slipped on his swimming trunks. Shoving his clothes into the bag, he spread out the huge beach blanket and opened the cooler.

When Lois joined him a few minutes later, he licked his lips and smiled "When I saw your costume I tried to imagine how it was going to look on you, but my imagination fell far short of the mark."

"Thank you." She bobbed a curtsy "So are we going wading first, or eating first?"

"Well I think a swim might work up an appetite."

"A swim; right." With a quick head shake, she took a few steps forward and stepped into the pool. When the water came up to mid calf, she looked at him with lifted brow, shook her head once again and sat "I feel ridiculous."

Clark grinned, carried the cooler to the side of the pool and after setting it down, took out a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. Handing her one, he climbed in and sat down beside her "I don't feel ridiculous, I feel cool as a cucumber."

Giggling she tapped her glass against his, and sipped. Setting down the glass, Lois moved to lie down but stopped at his voice.

"Hang on, I also got us blow up pillows, well they're more like back rests but that's even better." Grabbing one out of the sports bag, he blew it up and when it was ready, held it in place.

Rolling her eyes, Lois moved to lie down again and finding her knees had to dangle over the side, shot him a look before closing her eyes "I suppose it could be worse; although I don't see how."

He grinned even wider at her last bitchy remark, and decided it was time to give her something that she'd enjoy thinking about "You want some dinner?"

One eyelid flicked up before closing once again "Later, I'm too comfortable to get up now."

They lay in the pool for almost an hour, just relaxing and staying cool, climbed out to eat dinner, and as the weather was still stifling got back in straight afterwards.

"You know this isn't too bad." Lois smiled content "At least I don't have to worry about getting a cramp from swimming after eating."

Laughing, Clark leant down he dropped a quick kiss on her lips, once, twice before locking their mouths together. Coming up for air a few minutes later, he smiled and held up his hand from which dangled her bikini top "You really don't need to wear this anymore right?"

Letting out a sputtering laugh she cocked her brow "If I wasn't going to wear it, why did you bring it?"

"I wanted to see you in it, besides I let you wear it for a while." He reminded her pointedly before dumping the material over the side, and moving his hands down to her hips "Lift up."

"No one can see us, you're sure?"

"I'm positive."

Her lips pursed, she nodded and lifted her hips. After pulling off the bottoms, he stood and dispensed with his before lying down beside her once again "This is the life." At her snigger, he turned his head and shot her a look "You've gotta admit this is nice."

"This is strange, but I have to admit it's also fun." Lois grinned, trailing her hand absently through the water and high onto his thigh.

Grinning in return, he wiggled his brows, and rolled on top.

"You're heavy."

"The water should be making my body feel weightless."

"Maybe if we were in a pool where the water level was deeper than a puddle it'd be true, but since we're not..." She trailed off and pushed until he rolled onto his back before climbing on "...I'll be on top, and if my butt get's burnt, you're going to cop an earful."

"I've already copped an earful." When her brow cocked up, he huffed impatiently "We've got plenty of shade from the tree, but if you're ass get's burned, I promise to rub ointment on it ok?"

"If my ass get's burnt, you can forget about sex until it doesn't hurt anymore." She informed him steadily.

Looking up just to be sure, he inspected the slant of the sun, the shade of the tree and nodded "We'll be fine." Tugging her head down, he cut off her next retort with his lips.

Laughing and teasing, their bodies slipped and slid over each others as they began to taunt and tease to see just who'd crack first. The water splashed out liberally as the weight of their legs pressed down on the sides while they continued to roll around, but neither noticed nor cared.

oOo

_Later that night_

Returning to the house after ensuring all the animals were bedded down for the night, Clark made himself a cup of coffee, before making his way into the lounge room and switching on the TV. After watching the late news he switched it off again, and retreated upstairs.

Lying in bed minutes later he thought back over the past month, and shook his head at the complete difference in his relationship with Lois only two weeks ago, to how it was now. Before it was sex and see you round. Now it was fun, flirty times and summer lovin. A man could get used to this. It was far better than what they'd had prior, and it hands down beat the shallow, meaningless sex he'd engaged in with a string of women for years.

The only part he wasn't thrilled with was their sleeping arrangements which still hadn't changed. He thought that it would. He'd thought that Lois would somehow finagle her way into sleeping at the farm, or find excuses for him to sleep at her place, all without once admitting that she'd changed her mind. Huh, no such luck.

He hadn't brought it up again because he'd been waiting for her to, but since she didn't seem inclined to be accommodating, then maybe it was time that he gave her a gentle nudge. It couldn't hurt, and if she said no, then he'd be no worse off than he was already. Switching on the bedside light, he picked up his cell from the nightstand, punched in the digits and waited.

"Hello."

"Hi Lo, it's me."

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I just called to remind you that even though I let you off the hook tonight, you still owe me dinner." He grinned up at the ceiling.

"I really enjoyed the picnic we had." She told him chattily.

"Did you just hear what I said?"

She ignored that and continued happily "And I'm really looking forward to the festival in a few days."

"You still owe me dinner."

"And I was thinking that maybe we could..."

"You…owe…me…dinner!" He cut in to repeat slowly and carefully.

"I heard." She huffed loudly.

"Good." He replied with a big smile "So what have you been doing since you left?"

Lois giggled softly "I only left your place a little over an hour ago."

"I know but what are you doing now?"

"Right now I'm working on one of the panels for the quilt I'm making daddy for Christmas; what about you?"

"I'm just about to go to sleep."

"In that case I'll say goodnight again."

"Lo."

"Hmm."

"I was wondering how you'd feel about a sleep over."

"A sleep over; you mean the kind where I wear baby doll pyjamas and we have pillow fights?" She asked with solemnly.

Tucking one arm under his head, Clark smile widened "I haven't seen your nightclothes. Do you have any of those short sexy things?"

"Yep."

"Then a pillow fight is definitely in order..." When she chortled in laughter, he mock whispered "We could also tell each other scary stories."

"That trashy movie you got me to watch last night was bad enough thank you." She paused for a moment "Clark."

"Hmm."

"Even though it was ridiculous, I had fun in the pool."

"So did I but it wasn't ridiculous." At her small snort, he grinned, opened his mouth to nudge, but instead quietly said "Good night Lois."

"Good night."

Switching off the phone, he put it back on the stand and flopped back with a sigh. Well that suggestion had gone down like a lead balloon. He was well aware that Lois knew he'd been trying to coax her into sleeping with him at night, but wasn't sure if he should feel insulted that she'd tried not to laugh, or chagrined that she hadn't given in. Well he'd just have to try again without being so obvious. Subtlety wasn't his strong suit, he'd lost the art of how to do that a long time ago, but he was willing to give it a shot.

Even if it didn't work he really couldn't complain since that was the only stipulation Lois had made. Besides she hadn't kicked up much of a fuss when news of their union generated and swept through town like a wildfire. He knew that it would, and since he'd been more than ready for them to come out of the closet, he wasn't going to complain about that either. Admittedly he was used to joining in on the gossip not featuring in it, but after their little exhibition outside the Talon he hadn't expected anything else. His lips crooked up at the corners when he thought of the phone call he'd received from his mom only hours afterwards. She told him what she'd heard, and in return wanted to know if he was involved with Lois, and how deeply. Since there were some things he didn't want his mom to know about his social life, he told her they were involved, but as it was only the early days yet, not to call the caterer.

From his neighbours he'd been subjected to a similar but less intense interrogation. Grins and furtive stares, not so subtle questions, and gossip which came to a halt in his presence, then fired up furiously the minute he was out of earshot. Although Lois hadn't said anything to him about it directly, he was sure that she'd been subjected to it as well. Maybe not as openly, but she would have received her fair share.

He had to admit that he liked being in a relationship with Lois, liked people seeing them as a couple. There was no doubt her snarking, snarling and grousing was going to give him an ulcer before the summer was over, but despite all of that, he was somewhat afraid that he was going to miss her when she left.

Turning over he closed his eyes, and immediately the image of Lois kneeling above him, wearing a short flimsy peek a boo nightie with a pillow raised high over her head danced behind his lids. Groaning he turned over and flung the sheet off. He was going to get her to sleep with him, he was going to get the promised pillow fight, and he wouldn't even waste time begging for mercy. He'd just lie there and pretend to be helpless while enjoying the one man peep show.

oOo

Lois clicked off the phone with a smile and shook her head. She was pretty sure that Clark would bring up the idea of them sleeping together again, and wondered what his next suggestion would be. Picking up her sewing once again, she hummed along absently with the soft music flowing from the stereo, as her fingers worked automatically.

One month of her vacation was already over, she only had two more left and then she'd be leaving Smallville just as suddenly as she'd arrived. The next time she came it would be to talk business with the women who were on her books, and only for a few days at that. The next time she came it wouldn't be summer anymore, but possibly winter of next year, by which time her relationship with Clark would be long over.

By then both of them would have moved on. More than likely they'd exchange polite greetings if they happened to see each other in the street, but the spark and everything else they had right now would be dead. Everything died in winter, nothing could survive the cold, nothing lasted, so what did it matter. She'd have fun while she was here, enjoy herself while it lasted, and move on like she always did without regrets. Sighing deeply, she blanked her mind to concentrate on the sewing, got up to make herself some iced tea and re-took her seat.

When her eyes grew tired, she packed her work away carefully, and reached over to turn off the stereo when the song issuing from the speaker filtered through, and took root. Her hand paused on the button as Better Midler's voice lifted and carried through the room singing of love and the endurance of the rose.

When the last bar died out, she switched off the stereo and her lips lifted in a small smile. It was only a song but it reminded her that not everything died in winter. Some things only slept waiting for spring to come around again. She was glad about that, she didn't know why, but the heaviness that she'd felt earlier had lifted and she felt...happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello; firstly thank you for the feedback guys, it's much appreciated. Also apologies for the delay, I hope after the long wait that you all enjoy the update.

Linda

oOo

**5****th**** July**

After signing her name to the charge slip, Lois retrieved her credit card, replaced it in her purse and took the proffered bag with a smile.

Walking out of the department store she made straight for the nearest coffee shop, and after fortifying herself was ready to get going again. An hour later, loaded down with a number of bags from various stores, she made her way back to the parking garage where her car was stationed. Once on the road she switched on the radio, wiggled to get comfortable and cruised. She'd spent hours strolling through the shops in Metropolis, had enjoyed buying things that she didn't need but definitely wanted once she saw them, and was now looking forward to doing nothing more than getting home and putting her feet up.

Recalling the items that she'd bought from the lingerie boutique that she'd found tucked away in a little side street, her smile grew. She was looking forward to seeing Clark's reaction.

The poor guy had been busy the last two days; so busy in fact that he hadn't even been able to come around to her place in the morning. A few days ago he'd told her that he'd noticed the squash blooming and had notified his friends they were on standby, so if he didn't turn up in the morning it was because it'd be a case of head down and bum up until the work was done and everything else had to take second place to it. Of course, he'd hardly finished that sentence before assuring her that he would be over in the evening. When she'd told him not to bother coming, that he should stay at home and rest after a hard day in the fields, he'd told her to stop talking crazy.

Well sure enough Clark didn't turn up yesterday morning, but when he'd come around last night she'd swiftly found out that he had energy to spare and then some. He'd arrived, barely said hello and nailed her in the hallway. They'd eaten dinner, had just cleared the table and instead of washing the dishes, he'd nailed her on the kitchen floor. While watching a movie he'd tumbled her down on the couch and nailed her a third time, and while she was still catching her breath from that, he'd tossed her over his shoulder, carried her into the bedroom and started all over again. The man certainly liked sex and had the stamina to match, it was a wonder that she could even walk today.

Letting out a satisfied chuckle, Lois squirmed happily. She could certainly accuse Clark of being greedy, grabby and ravenous in bed, but never boring, selfish or mean. All of which made her ego feel 10 feet tall and put her in the mood to reward him.

Although whether he deserved anything except a kick up the bum after conning her into making dinner was another matter. Every night for the past week Clark had enticed her into playing board games with the stakes being the loser had to supply or make dinner, and every night no matter what game they played he'd soundly beaten her; chess, backgammon, monopoly, battleship and even more lowering, master mind. However, last night when the rotten so and so had sweetly offered her a match of noughts and crosses, she'd smilingly gritted her teeth and refused with the excuse that games were for children, before informing him that as he made breakfast it was only fair that she take care of dinner from now on. It was the only way she could save herself from being subjected to any more of his victorious smirks, and retain what little dignity she had left. She was aware he knew that was why she'd offered but didn't care. As long as he didn't say it out loud, everything was ok.

Instead of offering to take care of dinner what she should've done was cooked it once or twice and forced him to eat it; that would've fixed his little red wagon. He never would have tried to con her with another game as long as he lived. Too bad she didn't think of it before committing herself.

Ah well she supposed it all worked out; she gave Clark dinner and in return he didn't give her a headache.

Since he'd told her last night that he wouldn't be over this morning, she'd decided to take the opportunity and head to Metropolis. Waking up at 6am wasn't something she'd been keen on doing, but as she'd wanted to get there shortly after the shops opened, and leave no later than lunchtime, an early start was her only option.

Ever since he'd mentioned the sleep over to her a week ago, she'd started to wonder just what he would think of the stuff she wore to bed, and finally decided that just because she wasn't going to sleep with the man, didn't mean that she had to deprive him utterly. As he'd made it more than clear that he appreciated the sexy lingerie she wore, she knew that he'd love what she'd bought today, and she would in return reap the benefits of his appreciation. Giggling lightly, she thought of the small fortune that she'd spent in the boutique, and knew that it was money well spent.

Switching off the air conditioner, Lois wound down the window and enjoyed the breeze blowing through her hair and on her face from the open window. Tapping her fingers on the wheel she noted the time on the dash and seeing that it was almost 2.30pm decided to stop in town to buy dinner before going home knowing that she'd feel far too lazy to bother later.

Seeing the Smallville sign up ahead, she sighed gratefully that her journey was coming to an end, and wondered how Clark felt about having hot dogs for dinner.

oOo

Making her way to the supermarket, Lois smiled and greeted those passing her by but came to a halt when the flash invaded her mind. Once it was over she looked frantically up and down the street hoping to see either the old lady or the car she was crouched beside from her vision. Not knowing which way to run, her head turned this way and that. When she saw the pickup truck coming down the street, she swore loudly in both relief and panic. At least by seeing the truck she knew which direction to run in so could make an educated guess as to where Irma was, but as she was in the middle of town in the middle of the day, there was a lot more traffic for her to manoeuvre around.

Ignoring the honks Lois dashed across the road, running past parked cars and silently wished that Irma would pop her head up to give her some idea of how far away she was. She knew the driver wouldn't see the woman until it was too late, and as Irma was old Lois also knew that she was going to be hurt pretty badly no matter how gentle the impact unless she could prevent it.

Tossing a look over her shoulder, she let out a silent thank you at finding the pickup was halted at the lights, and taking the few minutes' grace she was given continued to run down the main street oblivious and uncaring of the sight she must be presenting. Finally catching sight of the car she sprinted forward and seeing Irma crouched down in the empty space ran forward to push the woman out if the way, only to catch her heel and fall hard onto the bitumen. At the sound of the approaching engine, Lois reached forward and pushed Irma with all her might onto the nature strip.

Knowing that the driver wouldn't see her on the ground anymore than he would have seen Irma, and likewise knowing that she didn't have time to scramble out of the way, Lois sucked in her breath sharply, held up her hands and closed her eyes hoping the impact wouldn't hurt too much. She felt a swift wind blow through her hair, and began to open one eye cautiously but at the sound of metal on metal, hunched her shoulders and cringed, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. When it was all quiet, she opened her eyes and felt dumbfounded to find that she was sitting on the grass. Not knowing how she'd gotten from over there to where she was, she frowned and looked around directly into Irma's wrinkled face.

"Are you ok dear?"

Lois nodded and gave her a small smile "I'm fine Irma, are you ok?'

"Well thanks to you I'm fine." The elderly lady smiled and patted her hand.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to push you so hard. Are you sure that I didn't hurt you."

"Don't apologise when you saved me from a pretty nasty accident." The old lady waved her hand before pressing it against her heart "I dropped my purse and was muttering to myself while picking up my things, so didn't even realise that you were behind me until you pushed me onto the grass." Irma chuckled and admitted shamefaced "I was about to turn around and yell at you until I realised what was going on."

Letting out a light giggle at both her words and sheer nervousness now that the crisis was over, Lois slapped a hand to her mouth, but when Irma likewise chortled the two women saw the twinkle in each other's eyes and began to crack up.

"Are you ladies ok?" Hearing the question, they looked up and nodded as their mirth died. Taking his outstretched hand, Lois got to her feet and turned to help Irma, but found that her assistance wasn't needed since there were now several people beside them.

"I'm sorry about your truck Steve." Lois told him quietly.

He pursed his lips and nodded.

"No I'm sorry." Irma put in firmly "I was so annoyed when I dropped my purse and had to pick up my things, that I didn't even stop to think that standing in a parking spot wasn't very clever since someone could pull in and wouldn't see me until it was too late."

Lois shook her head and patted her hand "Hey Irma don't worry about it, we've all been there. When you drop something you reach down to pick it up without even thinking; it's automatic."

"Well most accidents are caused by carelessness, and I even though I'm well past the first blush of youth, it seems that I still have a few lessons to learn about that." She replied discomfited.

Steve Whitehouse gave a half smile before turning to look at his pickup, then at the deep dent and the accompanying scratches in the paint job of the car he'd run into. Grimacing he turned back to "My pick-up's mostly fine except for the headlight and the front corner, but whoever owns that car wasn't so lucky. Unfortunately I didn't see you until the last minute, and in trying to avoid you I swung the wheel too hard and hit the car."

Lois nodded "Well we'd better go and see the sheriff and explain it to him."

"We don't need to, here comes Lloyd now." Steve informed her dryly.

After taking all three statements, and those of anyone who saw what happened, Lloyd Gibney closed his book intending to wait for the owner of the other vehicle, when a loud voice exclaimed angrily "What the hell happened to my car?"

Wincing Lois turned and smiled gamely at Tina Freeman. By the time they finished explaining what happened, and those who'd gathered had also put their two cents worth, Tina was shaking her head "So you've done it again huh Lois?"

"I'm sorry Tina, I didn't mean to make Steve hit your car, but hopefully with the statements we've given to Sheriff Gibney your insurance agent will be satisfied and you won't be penalised." She finished apologetically.

Tina shook her head again and waved her hand for good measure "They'd better not try and penalise me or there'll be hell to pay, but what I was talking about was you saving Irma."

"I don't think I helped much at all." Lois shrugged apologetically "I noticed Irma walking between the parked cars but it didn't even give it a second thought really. However, when she just dropped out of view all of a sudden, I rushed over here thinking that she was hurt, and in my haste fell over myself. It only took a moment to click in that she was fine, and even less time to realise that Steve was just about to pull in behind us so I pushed Irma pretty hard onto the grass. I could have hurt her, and because Steve was trying to avoid me he hit your car in the process."

"What nonsense Lois. If you hadn't pushed me out of the way, I imagine that right now they'd be taking me to the Smallville Medical Centre." Irma rebuked promptly.

"Exactly; I'm insured and I bet Steve is too so neither of us will have problems with our agents. The most anyone suffered was a bit of a scare which is a much better outcome than what could have happened if you hadn't been here." Tina put in firmly.

Lois smiled gratefully at both of them when Steve nodded in accord, and when those around began to repeat variations of the same, she felt the blush creep up her neck and decided it was time to change the subject "Um, can someone can tell me how I got from the road onto the nature strip? I didn't even think I had time to jump out of the way of the pickup, much less actually doing it." At the smiles and the chortles of amusement, her brows rose "What's so funny?"

"It was the mysterious stranger who saved you from being hit dear." Irma told her in amusement "For one frightful moment I thought you were going to be hit and let out a shriek, and the next I saw a flash and you were sitting safely beside me."

"I wish he'd save me sometime." One of the women remarked out loud.

"Me too;" another sighed dreamily.

"And what would you do if _he_ turns out to be a _she_?" One of the men laughed.

"He's not a girl."

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Lois looked from one to the other puzzled and cut in to ask loudly "What mysterious stranger?"

"Haven't you heard of him Lois?" At the quick head shake, Tina grinned "No one's ever seen him, but he's been mentioned in the newspapers a lot over the years. He helps the JLA out unobtrusively on occasion, and at the oddest moments seems to pop up just when someone needs help."

Lois brow cleared "Hang on, are you talking about the mysterious hero that I've read about in the newspaper; that was him?"

"Uh huh."

"I've never really believed the stories about him. I just thought it was the overactive imagination of a few journalists."

Tina shook her head "Nope, if you hang around long enough you're bound to see a woosh go past, and that'll be him."

"So how do you know it's a guy if no one's see him, her or it?" She asked pointedly.

"Well the people he's helped thinks it's a guy, and although you didn't even realise that he'd saved you; do you have an impression from when he carried you from over there..." Tina pointed to where the cars were, and then pointed to where they were standing "...to over here?"

Seeing the curiosity on the faces around her Lois shook her head "I had my eyes closed, and was too busy wondering how much it was going to hurt when my face became embedded into the front of the pickup to think about anything else."

Letting out a laugh, Irma patted her hand "Well it might have seemed like an eternity at the time, but it all happened in only a few seconds so it's not surprising."

Lois nodded and rolled her shoulders "Well whoever he is I'm grateful." Bending down she picked up her purse, and after the happenings of the near accident had been discussed, and hashed over, the crowd began to disburse until just the three women were left.

"I have to go to the supermarket, but I'm happy to give you a lift home afterwards if you don't mind waiting for half an hour; or if you feel unwell I can take you now." Lois asked the old lady.

"I'm on my way home Lo, so I can drive Irma home; that's if you'd like me to?" Tina offered the old lady with a smile.

"My daughter Caroline's coming to pick me up, but I told her not to come before 3.30pm since I wanted to take my time gossiping with my friends. However, that's almost half an hour away and I am feeling a bit weary so I'd appreciate the lift home now if that's ok?" At the nod, she smiled before patting Lois' arm "Thank you again deary; if you hadn't been there I could have been badly hurt, but the worst I've suffered is a few scapes on my legs."

Lois frowned and looked down "Make sure you clean them out properly, and put antiseptic cream on them afterwards."

"Well I wouldn't be surprised if I don't get the chance to do anything before my daughter or son in law sits me down and does it for me." Irma chuckled heartily.

"You'd better do it too Lois." At her lifted brows, Tina grasped her hands gently and turned them over.

Seeing the scapes on the palms, and feeling the sting on her knees, she looked down and shook her head "Wonderful; the last time my knees looked like this I was still in grade school."

"Ah yes, well all you need to do is wear your hair in pigtails, slap some mercurochrome on your knees and your all set." Tina grinned wickedly.

"They don't sell that here anymore." Lois tittered softly.

"Well that's a bit of a shame. It's the one clear memory that all school kids share no matter what else they've forgotten." Irma put in sadly.

The three women looked at each other and nodded firmly in agreement. They were in the process of saying their farewells when a car pulled up, and Caroline Smith jump out "Mom, are you ok?"

"I'm fine dear."

"Why didn't you call me?"

When it was explained that they first had to give their statements Caroline nodded in understanding, but when all three admitted shamefaced that they'd afterwards gotten caught up chatting about the mysterious stranger, she rolled her eyes but smiled in relief "Well I'm just glad that you're ok."

"I was just about to drive her home." Tina quickly informed her.

"Thanks Tina..." turning to Lois, Caroline reached out, pulled her into a hard hug and whispered "Thank you, I know she's a strong old lady, but old is the key word so I worry."

Lois patted her on the back and whispered "You're welcome but just so you know, while I was still feeling dazed by what happened, she was cheerfully asking me if I was ok. I wouldn't be surprised if she outlives us all."

Letting out a watery gurgle Caroline nodded, let her go, and with a final wave the two women departed. After a few more minutes Tina left and Lois was on her own.

Hefting out a deep breath, she shook her head, made her way quickly to the supermarket and after purchasing what was needed for dinner, returned to her car and home.

After placing the grocery bag on the kitchen table, she made her way to the bathroom intending to clean out the cuts on her knees and palms. A few minutes later she took a seat on the stool and had just picked up the cotton ball when a knock at the door gave her pause.

oOo

Clark signed the paperwork, gave the clipboard back to the driver, and accepted his copy with a smile. The last two days had been busy and chaotic but the good kind. The kind when a job was done well and you knew that you were going to be compensated accordingly.

With the help of some friends he'd gotten all the zucchini, and the yellow summer squash harvested, stored and packed up for shipping. As he and his friends all had an investment in making a profit from farming, when their crops were ready for harvesting they each pitched in and helped each other out. That was the beauty of living in a small town. The help and neighbourly assistance people gave each other.

He could have done it himself, but he knew that would only raise questions on how he'd singlehandedly managed to get the crops in before they all spoilt. Besides, that would only defeat the whole purpose of making it on his own. It was one of the things the he loved about farming the most. Doing everything the the old fashioned way as his dad had before him; by the sweat of his brow and without using super anything.

Over the next few weeks he'd be harvesting the rest of his crops, but for a few days at least he could take it easy; kind off.

Closing the back door of the truck, he shook the driver's hand, and watched as the vehicle pulled out of his driveway lifting an arm in farewell before turning to the four men standing behind him.

"Thanks for the help guys, I really appreciate it."

"No problem; we all help each other out at this time of year." Dean replied for all of them, as each man nodded in agreement.

"True, but I appreciate it anyway." He smiled in return.

"Well now that we've got work out of the way, I've got something of even more importance to talk to you about." Dean informed readily.

Seeing the humour in the man's eyes Clark's brow quirked in response "What?"

"Neil delivered your message."

"I repeated it to him verbatim." Neil informed him cheerfully.

Knowing exactly what they were talking about, he nodded firmly "Good!"

"I said that I got it, not that I was going to heed it." Dean returned promptly.

"Is that right."

"Mmmm." Dean tilted his head and asked casually "So Lois is definitely taken huh?"

"Definitely!"

"And if I ask her out again?" He challenged with a smirk.

Clark's eyes narrowed in response "You can ask; but just remember that being a good friend won't stop me from beating you bloody if I have to."

"You think you can?"

"I know I can." He replied confidently.

Dean smiled wolfishly "We haven't had a good punch up in ages."

"That's because we're too busy these days." Mark Thompson put in sadly.

All nodded solemnly at his words.

"And we have to save our strength to work our farms, not waste it on brawling just for fun." Tim Arnold reminded them soberly.

They nodded once again.

"Besides at our age we're above that kind of thing." Neil added dolefully.

All sighed heavily but bobbed their heads a third time resignation.

Dean scratched his chin in contemplation "When was the last time anyway?"

Clark frowned unhappily "It has to be a year ago at least."

"That long?"

"Yeah." He replied wistfully.

When Dean's eyes lit up, Clark grinned in anticipation and allowing his body to relax took the punch, before delivering one that was hard enough to have his friend staggering but not hard enough to hurt...much. Within minutes the two men were rolling on the ground, beating each other up.

Neil watched them for a moment longer before yelling "wah hoo" and jumping into the melee took a fist to the jaw. He didn't know who'd punched him and didn't much care; that was the fun in a free for all. Drawing back his arm he returned the favour to the closest face, and smiled happily at the responding grunt before his breath left him in a woosh.

Hearing the grunts, the swearing, the striking of fist against flesh and the laughter, Mark shrugged and with a rebel yell, likewise threw himself into the fray. Tim watched the four of them go at it, and bit his lip indecisively. When they rolled near his feet he purposely didn't side step fast enough, and was taken down into the tumble. Deciding the best way to stop them was by knocking some sense into them first, he grinned in fiendish delight and began to let fly.

20 minutes later when there was more laughing than hitting going on, the men gave up and fell onto their backs looking up at the sky breathing heavily.

Heaving out a deep breath Clark sat up, swiped a hand over his face, and grinned happily before getting to his feet. Not to be outdone the other three men groaned and likewise rose.

"You're a bastard Kent."

"Why?"

"Because Lois is the first good looking woman of marriageable age to hit this town in a long time, and you snapple her up before anyone else can get a look in." Dean panted out heavily.

"You and Neil had coffee with her." He shrugged and blew out a deep breath.

"Dean had coffee with her; I had coffee with you and her." Neil corrected him dryly, before staggering over to take a seat on the back porch stairs.

Clark's smile flashed out quick and bright "All's fair." Turning to Mark his brows rose in enquiry "Question, I know that you had no intention of asking Lois out, so why did you jump into the fight?"

Ignoring the first part, Mark focused instead of the second "Well I felt duty bound to defend the rights of my brothers when you cut them out with Lois." At the jeers, he grinned and swiped the back of his hand over his forehead "Also the three were enjoying yourselves and I felt left out, happy?"

He nodded and turned to the last man "And you?"

"I was trying to break it up."

When they hooted in laughter, Tim informed them loftily "That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it. So when Lucy asks me about it, that's exactly what I'm going to tell her."

"Scared of the wife Tim?" Neil deliberately taunted.

"Yep." He agreed swiftly before letting out a mock shiver "She'll see that my shirt is torn, the split lip, the dishevelled appearance and ask me what I'd been doing to come home looking like shit."

"I've got a bag of frozen peas that you can hold against your mouth which will hopefully reduce most of the swelling before you even get home." Clark consoled with a pat to his friends back.

"Thanks buddy."

"And what are you going to say to Lois when she sees all your boo boos Kent; are you going to ask her to kiss them all better?" Dean asked and wiggled his brows.

Knowing that he wouldn't have any, Clark shrugged carelessly "I won't need to. I'll just sit back and bask in all the feminine attention she's sure to lavish on me, and when she offers to kiss away all my little hurts I'll protest…." He paused and tacked on modestly "…but not too much."

Neil, Dean and Mark smiled in unison at the picture he painted. However Tim's loud grunt of disbelief brought them all back to reality with a jolt "If you're expecting Lois to fuss all over you then you're dreaming. More than likely she'll get all feminine on your ass and say something like 'what kind of idiots are you and your friends that you enjoy pounding on each other', or 'it serves you right for fighting in the first place', yadda yadda."

"Is that what Lucy says to you Tim?" Mark questioned sharing a laughing look with the others.

His eyes rolled feelingly "Yep, that woman can be as sweet as pie most of the time, but there are other times when she can flay me alive with just a look."

"Well it serves you right since you did the same thing when Lucy arrived a few years ago. Don't think any of us have forgotten how she barely hit town before you were moving in on her, and warning the rest of us off." Neil retorted pleasantly before turning to the men "Remember guys?"

Mark and Dean folded their arms and nodded in unison.

Tim smiled unconcerned then quickly lifted a hand to his sore lip.

"They're just jealous Tim." Clark smirked at his three friends.

Dean pursed his lips, then quickly drew back his arm and belted Clark in the mouth who thank heaven saw it coming, and was able to relax his facial muscles so his friend didn't break his hand. Keeping up the act he allowed his head to swing around, and quickly pressed his fingers against his mouth before turning back to glare "What in hell was that for?"

"Well I thought about what Tim said and figured that since you're my friend I'd help you out, even though you don't deserve it for cutting us out with Lois."

"How does punching me in the mouth help me out exactly?" He demanded outraged.

"Well if figured that if Lois sees you're bleeding, then she's bound to feel sorry for you instead of nagging at you." He shrugged unconcerned.

"Well you must hit like a girl because his lip hasn't swelled up nor is it bleeding." Neil pointed out logically "You should've gone for the nose; that always bleeds like a son of a bitch. Here I'll show you." Getting up, he stepped forward and drew back his arm.

"I don't need you to show me nor do I hit like a girl, but I'll be happy to hit you again if you don't shut up." Dean retorted swiftly then bumped Neil out of the way "Hold still Clark, I'm going to punch you hard in the nose."

"What the fuck!" He stepped back and held up a hand.

Dean drew back his arm, but stopped when Tim shook his head "Don't waste your time buddy."

Clark dropped his hand and asked astounded "She won't even care if I'm bleeding!"

Tim let out a scoffing laugh "Nope, she'll just say something like; 'don't tramp blood all through my clean house', or 'stay outside, I've just mopped the floor and don't want to have to do it again' or 'get in the laundry and clean yourself up'."

"But…."

Tim sighed and shook his head "Women just don't understand and believe me if you say that to her then you're really in trouble. She'll just look at you silently until you feel like scuffing your foot on the floor, and then she'll smile nicely...and you all know what I mean by that?" The men all nodded feelingly "Well she'll give you one of those smiles and say; 'Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise you were hurt saving the world, I thought you were hurt having fun with your friends'."

"I thought women were supposed to be soft hearted creatures." Neil gaped in disbelief.

Tim snorted loudly "That's a fallacy they let you believe until they've gotten you well and truly hog tied, and then the ugly truth comes out."

The men looked at each other and shook their heads sadly.

"So what are you going to tell Lois when you begin sporting some pretty impressive bruising?"

Clark rubbed his chin thoughtfully and decided that he'd better avoid town for the next few days at least "I'll just make up some crap that'll arouse the feminine sympathy in her breast."

"Make it good." Tim warned sincerely.

Clark nodded then turned at Dean's question.

"How come we all look like shit and you don't?"

"What'd you mean? My shirt and jeans are torn, I have dust in every orifice, my bodies aching like a bitch, and I know that I look like a mess." Clark replied raking his hands through his hair.

"How much are you aching?" Tim demanded forthright.

"A lot." Clark lied swiftly.

"Good!" All four stated promptly.

"What'd you mean good?" He demanded wrathfully.

"I mean that we all look like we've been in a punch up but you don't." Dean sighed and patted his fingers carefully around his throbbing eye.

"If it makes you feel any better I bit my tongue when you sucker punched me?" Clark retorted sarcastically before pretending to spit out blood and just as quickly wipe away the lack of evidence with his boot.

Dean grinned quick and sharp "It makes me feel a whole lot better."

"Well normally I don't bruise easily but considering we were all going at it, I'm sure that come tonight I'll have a few that'll make even you lot happy."

"And they'll hurt a lot right?" Neil asked with relish.

Seeing the cuts and bruises each man was sporting, Clark felt truly sorry that he wouldn't have any for show and tell. Bobbing his head, he rubbed one hand on his jaw, the other on his stomach and grimaced accordingly.

"Well I suppose it's not all bad then." Mark admitted grudgingly.

Neil, Dean and Tim pursed their lips and nodded reluctantly.

"I'm also a quick healer, but in the meantime I'm sure that any cuts and bruises I have will just make me look all that more handsome." Clark struck a pose then laughed like a loon at their loud heckling and rude gestures at his nonsense.

Since he was pretty sure his friends had their suspicions about him, but preferred to enjoy taunting him occasionally as opposed to plying him with questions, Clark reached out and slapped the closest one on the back in gratitude "Anyway now that we've got that sorted out, who wants a beer?"

"Me." They all called out simultaneously, and turning followed him into the house.

"Take a seat." Waving his hand at the kitchen table, Clark stepped to the fridge, pulled out the beer and handed them round before tossing Tim the bag of peas and taking a seat "So do any of you need help tomorrow?"

"Not tomorrow, but later in the week I will." Mark replied before stretching lazily.

"I won't need you guys for another week or two." Dean told the group.

"I should be right until mid to late next week." Tim put in after swallowing a mouthful of beer.

"Same here." Neil put in before begging the mantra "The one thing we can say about summer is that the days are long..."

"...and the work is plenty." All chorused together.

Clark laughed "Well we've been doing this for years now so we've pretty much got it down to a fine art."

Lifting their drinks in accord, the men slouched back in their seats and enjoyed their ice cold beers in the cool of the house.

oOo

After seeing his friends off, Clark made his way upstairs to have a shower before returning to the kitchen. He'd already put in a full day's work so he could take it easy, but he didn't really like being idle when the sun was still up. Ah well, on a farm there was always something to keep him occupied and out of trouble, so he decided to head back outside and keep busy.

Entering the barn, he picked up his tool box and bypassing all the relatively new, shiny and expensive farm machinery he owned, made his way directly to his dad's old tractor. Patting the relic affectionately, he hunkered down and took a good long look at the engine.

He couldn't make himself get rid of this old thing. It was outdated, pretty useless, and most people would consider it only good for the scrap heap but his dad had loved it, or had at least loved having an ongoing battle to fix it, and he figured that was motive enough to keep it. Either way, Clark liked to think that his dad was having a good laugh at his son's never ending battle with an inanimate object, and maybe even rooting for him to win the war between machinery and man.

40 minutes late he got to his feet, turned on the ignition and smiled when the engine roared to life, then groaned when it coughed before dying again. Rolling his eyes, he hunched down once more.

Whistling softly he continued tinkering while recalling how he'd conned Lois into playing board games every night for the past week, and then soundly beating her. Really who knew that cheating could be so much fun? His parents had always drummed into him that cheating was wrong and yeah ok they were right, but playing by the rules was nowhere near as entertaining.

Seeing the way Lois' eyes flashed in glee when she was winning, then flashed again in fury when she was losing. Her grumbling, her hissing and spiting like an angry cat, her colourful language while taking her anger out on him in bed; my god the woman was like...she was like all his good times rolled into one delicious package. He had been kind enough to let her win a few games, enough so that she wouldn't feel like a complete loser, just not enough to win. He'd cheated like a champion, oh yes he had, and although his end goal of getting her to make dinner since he made breakfast had been achieved, it had been worth it for the simple pleasure experiencing all the expressions and emotions she went through playing a simple board game.

His whistling got louder then softer then stopped altogether as his forehead crinkled in befuddlement.

He thought that after Lois agreed to indulge in a summer fling with him and him alone, that he would be in clover. He'd thought once they started spending time together out of bed that things would get better. Well they certainly were, but...but there was still a problem because he wasn't completely satisfied. He couldn't put his finger on why he just knew that he wasn't.

The problem wasn't with him. He'd gotten his way, gotten what he wanted and Lois was being a good sport about it all. Despite all the time they spent together she didn't harass him, nor did she appear to be waiting for him to propose anytime soon, so what...oh! Oh knew what the problem was; Lois. She was the problem.

Even though a few of the old dears in town had made coy or artful remarks to him about his intensions towards Lois, she hadn't said a word. Even though they were now dating she wasn't acting natural; well she wasn't doing what he figured most women would do in this situation. She hadn't tried to find out if she was special to him, hadn't tried to fish around to determine if the relationship was going anywhere; she'd hadn't done anything. In fact she still seemed quite content for them to go on as they were and wave bye-bye when the summer was over.

Scowling, Clark threw down the plow wrench and snatched up an adjustable one.

Well the end of summer was still a good long while away, so there was no reason for her to be so damn blasé about saying sayonara. Knowing her she probably already had her; 'see ya around, it's been fun' speech prepared. Would it hurt her to at least pretend that she was going to miss him; was that too much to ask?

Gritting his teeth, he tightened the bolt and swore richly when it broke. Snatching up another from the box, he shoved it into place and began again.

Maybe she was acting nonchalant now to prepare herself for when she left to spare either of them any embarrassing weepy goodbye scenes? He could understand that...although a little crying on her part wouldn't go astray. She might have missed him the last two mornings, not enough to cry about it, but enough to feel a little blue.

Now that he'd thought about it, maybe that was the problem; he was just feeling a little deprived. Actually that made a lot of sense. The problem wasn't Lois' lack of questions to him, or her carefree attitude; it was her lack of sleeping with him. If she'd been staying with him at the farm then he wouldn't have missed out on morning nookie the last two days. That was his problem right there in a nutshell. Well he'd already decided to try coaxing her again and there was no time like the right time, and the right time was going to be tonight.

He probably wouldn't even have to try all that hard, after all he was pretty sure that she'd sounded a little wistful when she called yesterday asking if he needed any help. Although she'd certainly shot him down fast enough when he told her as much. Nah, he was sure that Lois had missed him and truth be told he'd missed her, not just the morning nookie.

He'd missed listening to her early morning snarking, he'd missed her yelling at him about the dumbest things, he'd even missed the way she all but howled in outrage when he left the decision of what they should do for entertainment that night up to her. But he wouldn't have missed anything if she'd just bend her stupid rule about sleeping together. Well tonight he was going to bring it up again, and hopefully this time he'd prevail.

Whistling cheerfully again he continued working but his hand paused a moment later at the sounds he could hear in the distance. Swearing viciously he threw the wrench away and took off flying towards town. Seeing what was about to happen Clark rushed forward, clasped Lois around the waist, and placed her safely on the grass before zipping up to the roof of the Talon to watch her from behind the billboard sign.

That had been close, too close. At best Lois would have received a few minor cuts and bruises from being knocked by the pickup, at worst she could have been bumped off the front grill and hurt badly, or pinned between the two vehicles and broken something.

When her eyes opened, his closed in relief, and lifting a hand to his chest, he rubbed hard wishing that his heart would cease from thumping so furiously. Hearing her laugh, his eyes snapped open, looked onto her and glared.

What in the hell was so funny, and just what in the hell had she been thinking? Who on earth sat down in a parking space and just closed their eyes. Was that some kind of weird new age shit that she was into? Well Smallville maybe a small town, but people drove cars there just like they did everywhere else; in fact most people drove trucks and pickups of some sort and Lois damned well knew it. Did she think the road was for pedestrians? Would she still be laughing if she had to be fit for a body cast?

Giving her one long last look, he raced back to the farm and stepped into the barn. Picking up the wrench he'd thrown down a few minutes previously, he knelt down beside the tractor, but instead of working on it, he closed his eyes and banged his forehead on the side.

She had no damn right to put herself into harms way. She had no damn right to scare him like that, and she had no damn right to make him feel like this. If he hadn't been around, if he hadn't heard her...fuck!

How the hell had he even heard her? He'd been thinking about her yeah, and he could hear long distances true, but...forget about that. Who cared how? He had and that was all that mattered. Well it was what mattered to him at the moment, but soon she was going to be hearing from him about what mattered for future reference.

He'd sit Lois down and then calmly, rationally and patiently explain to her in words of one syllable if need be that the middle of the road wasn't the place to take a nap or...oh screw that! He wasn't going to wait to calm down. He was going to her place right now and if she tried to make light of it, if she just tried he was...

At the ringing of his phone Clark sighed heavily, opened his eyes and dropped his head in defeat. Great! It wasn't enough that he'd been working on this engine for years. It wasn't enough that this pile of junk looked like something that belonged in a museum He'd now put a big dent in one of the hub caps when he'd banged his head on it. He'd dented his dad's tractor.

Growling he tugged the still ringing phone from his pocket and got to his feet. He knew what this call was going to be about. Someone wanted to tell him about Lois almost being hurt. He would have heard from the grapevine anyway, but since they were dating...reminding himself to stay calm he clicked it on, said hello then listened to the excited voice on the other end. His forehead creased, his lips twisted and after thanking them for the call he hung up.

Tucking the phone back into his pocket, Clark scrubbed his hands over his face. Well it seemed that he'd been yelling at Lois for nothing. She'd saved Irma Williams from being badly injured, only to get caught in the path of danger herself, and he in turn had saved her.

Letting out a light chuckle, he swiftly hoisted the tractor up, got the wheel off and holding the hub cap carefully in one hand, gave it a good hard smack with the other then rolled his eyes at the hand print that was now indented in it. After tapping it gently with his fist, he smoothed it out with his fingers and nodded in satisfaction. Once the tyre was put back on the tractor, he stepped back and smiled. Good as new. Now the pile of junk still looked like a piece of crap but it was back to being just the way his dad had loved it.

Swiftly packing up his tools, he placed the box back on the bench before making his way to the house. After having a shower and dressing, he snagged the keys to his truck and was soon on his way to Lois' place.

oOo

Pulling into her driveway 20 minutes later, he got out of the truck, walked up the front stairs and knocked on the screen door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me Lo."

"The doors unlocked."

Pulling it open, he stepped inside and made his way to the kitchen. Not finding her there, he frowned "Where are you?"

"In the bathroom."

Figuring that she wasn't using the facilities, he walked down the hall and found her sitting on a stool. Seeing the half filled basin of milky water, the cotton wool in her hand and the antiseptic cream on the sink, he took a step forward and crouched down in front of her.

After inspecting her knees, he took her hands and looked at the palms before getting to his feet. "I'm just going to wash my hands and then I'll be back to take care of these ok?"

"I can tend to these myself you know?"

Ignoring her words Clark repeated "I'll be back in a minute" and turned to leave but instead whipped around and tugged her up into his arms "Are you ok?"

"Of course." Lois replied cheerfully and patted his back "And since you're not surprised to see the scrapes I'm currently sporting, I'm gathering that you heard about what happened from the Smallville grapevine?"

"Mmm." Rubbing his cheek against the side of her head, Clark closed his eyes and breathed in her scent "Are you sure that you're ok?"

"I'm fine; I wasn't hit at all, just got a bit of a scare really."

Nodding he let her go, and sat her back down before striding to the kitchen to wash his hands and returning momentarily.

15 minutes later, he pursed his lips at the sight of her knees and hands liberally smeared with ointment and looked up with a half smile "Well it's not exactly pretty, but you'll live."

"Thanks Dr Kent." She began to rise but stopped flabbergasted when he leant forward and pressed a butterfly kiss to each knee.

Clark grimaced at the taste of antiseptic cream on his lips, and after wiping them with the back of his hand, looked up to find her goggling at him "Didn't your dad ever do that?"

"Nope, daddy never treated me like a sissy girl. I grew up in the Lane army where a good solider never cried over trivialities." She informed him sassily

"Well I grew up a civilian in the Kent family where my parents kissed all my boo-boos better." He rejoined brashly.

She cleared her throat noisily "Yeah, I kinda figured as much when we met years ago."

"S h u t u p!" Clark retorted pleasantly.

Lois snickered and patted his shoulder "Well I can honestly say you've given me an experience no man ever has before."

"Does that mean I busted your cherry?" He asked with a huge grin.

She shouted in laughter "Not even close, that happened on my seventeenth birthday."

"So I'm guessing it's a date you won't soon forget." He asked politely, and taking her hand helped her up.

"The date no, the guy yes; he was infinitely unforgettable." She confided and rolled her eyes when he brightly informed her "You won't forget me."

"You really are up yourself aren't you?"

He grinned even wider, and smacking him on the arm, she shook her head and led the way to the kitchen "Do you want a glass of iced tea?"

"Yeah but I'll get it after I put these away." Clark replied pointing to the bag of groceries on the table. Once done, he pulled out the jug and after pouring two glasses, took a seat at the kitchen table opposite her "So what happened?"

"I thought you heard."

"I heard a third hand version, now I'd like to hear a firsthand one."

Lois told him and finished with "If I'd been hit the worst I would have suffered was a bruise or two..." At his scoff, she amened "Ok, I would have been hurt but not as badly as Irma. As it is I could have hurt her myself by bumping her out of the way too hard. Unfortunately I didn't have time to be nice about it, and the poor things so old I was worried that I might have broken something when she fell."

Clark snorted into his glass "Irma maybe 500 years old, but she's tough as old boots."

Lois coughed out her sip of drink, before leaning over to smack his arm "She's not that old."

"She looks that old."

Recalling the weathered, pruney face of the woman Lois giggled "Yeah, the funny thing is she looks like she'd be mean or crotchety but she's delightful and sharp as a tack."

"Yeah, she's a sweetheart." Curious as to what she'd say, he tilted his head enquiringly "Anyway I also heard that the famous stranger people have seen round and about, swooped in and saved you."

"You mean the _infamous_ stranger that people _haven't_ seen." She amended with a grin "I've read about him for years but never believed in him before now."

"Why not?"

She rolled her eyes "C'mon Clark, believe in a hero that no one's ever seen except for the odd swoosh as he goes about his business, give me a break."

"But you do believe in him now?" He asked with a half smile.

"I'd be foolish not to."

"So what'd you think of him?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well most people are curious who he is; aren't you?"

"Nope, he must have his reasons for keeping his identity hidden, and whatever those reasons are, they're his business." She replied firmly "He might be extremely shy, or have some deformity that makes him feel self-conscious enough that he prefers to stay hidden from view; but whatever the reason he clearly only wants to help people, so he should be allowed to live his life in peace."

Nodding slowly, Clark smiled internally at her reply.

Tilting her head she looked at him curiously "Anyway how come your here so early?"

"Well I was working on my dad's old tractor when I heard about your mishap, so decided to come around and see how you are." He glanced at his watch "It's just on 5 now, so I would have been here in another hour in any case."

Her forehead wrinkled slightly "If you were working on the tractor, does that mean you've finished harvesting already?"

"For now we have." Clark answered readily "Over the next couple of weeks I'll be helping the other guys out by which time the rest of my summer crop should be ready, and then we'll round robin it again until we're all done."

"Sounds like you'll be busy."

"We will but I'm certainly not complaining about that. So far the yields been good and my crops have performed beautifully, which means my bank account will be thriving even more by summer's end if all keeps going the way it has the last two days." He finished and lifted his glass in salute.

Lois smiled at the bone deep satisfaction she heard in his voice "It feels good huh?"

"Um huh, a job well done always feels good." He replied and took a sip of his iced tea.

"Yeah."

"But..." At the sly grin on his face, her brow cocked up. Half rising out of his chair, Clark leant forward over the table and wiggled his finger in the come hither gesture. When Lois giggled but rose, assuming a like position, he leant forward and smacked her lips with his "Not seeing you the last two mornings is more than enough. I promise to make the time to come over every morning from now on no matter how busy I am."

"Well I noticed that you seemed to be unusually frisky last night. Were you making up for missing out yesterday morning?" She asked softly.

"Yep, plus I was also taking something on credit for this morning too." He told her in a like tone.

Gurgling out a laugh she sat back down and he followed suit.

Clark lifted his drink to sip, but paused with the glass halfway to his mouth, and shooting her a look of trepidation he asked quickly "The last time you were hurt we didn't fool around for days afterwards. You're not going to penalise me again are you?"

"Firstly, contrary to what you may think I am not your play toy." She informed him dryly and rolled her eyes when he grinned unrepentant "And secondly, the last time I'd managed to accumulate a number of bruises so wasn't in the mood for tumbling around. There was no conspiracy to derail your sex lie nor was I wasn't punishing you; in fact you weren't even on my list of concerns."

"Ow, right in the kisser." When she shrugged uncaring, he freely invited "Please, don't spare my ego at all will you?"

"I won't." She assured him promptly.

"Well firstly I have to say that it felt like I was being punished..." He grinned and wiggled his brows "...and secondly, I'm not averse to that kind of thing if you have a mind to it." When her eyes bugged out, he grinned even wider "I'm kidding; I draw the line at the kinky stuff."

"Well it's about time you drew the line somewhere."

He chuckled and looked at her hopefully "But getting back to the point; you're not too sore or anything are you?"

"Are you asking for my sake or yours?" She asked politely.

"Yours of course I'm extremely concerned about your welfare."

"Well that's nice to hear and I certainly appreciate your concern." He shrugged bashfully and waved his hand. Narrowing her eyes, Lois continued "But since you brought it up I am starting to feel a little sore, which is funny because I was feeling perfectly fine before that." She finished gently and almost laughed out loud when his eyes widened in fear.

He put down his glass slowly "You're joking right?"

She shook her head and lifted her glass once again "Nope"

"Aw c'mon." Clark grumbled out loud and at her lifted brow, whined theatrically "I'm sorry, please."

"Sorry for what?"

"For bringing it up." When she sighed uninterested, he beseeched "Pleeeeeease."

"We'll see." She reached over and patted his hand again. Quick as a snake he turned his over and clasped hers.

"Pleeeeeease." Clark repeated piteously and reached out to clasp her other hand.

"Don't be pathetic." Lois sniffed disparagingly.

"Pleeeeeease."

"Have you no pride?" She asked swallowing back the laughter that threatened to burst out.

"Pleeeeeease."

Unable to hold it in any longer she giggled "Fine; now stop it."

Letting go of her hands he sat back and puffed out his chest "I knew you couldn't resist me."

Lois shook her head incredulous "I have never seen such a shameless display in my life."

"I can be even more shameless when it comes to getting sex." He admitted truthfully and picked up his glass again.

She snickered, before falling back into her seat shouting with laughter.

oOo

_Later that night_

When his lips descended again, Lois quickly pressed a hand against Clark's chest and took a deep breath "Hang on."

"What?" He looked at her like she was crazy, and reached out for her again but dropped his arms when she shook her head "Oh god, please don't tell me you're not in the mood."

Hearing the tinge of desperation in his voice she almost chortled out loud, but managed to just shake her head back and forth silently. Letting out a relieved breath, Clark frowned concerned "Are you starting to hurt from when you fell on the asphalt earlier?" Hearing the sincerity in his voice, she smiled and shook her again. Flopping back onto the couch he sighed hugely in relief "Thank goodness."

"What would you have done if I was?" She asked curiously.

"Cried." He admitted just as sincerely.

Lois giggled, but when he reached for her, she held him off "Not just yet, I have to get something."

"Now!"

"Yep."

"Can't it wait?"

"Nope." Heaving herself up from the couch, she ignored his grumbling and made her way to the bedroom. Quickly changing out of her clothes, she slipped into the nightdress she'd bought earlier in the day, swiped on lip-gloss, fluffed up her hair, and returned to the lounge room to find Clark still seated on the couch with his eyes closed.

Hearing his soft murmur, she frowned, concentrated and almost laughed out loud when she realised that he was counting to himself very slowly. Swiftly arranging herself in an artful pose against the doorframe, she dropped her lids half way, and called out softly "I'm back."

"Well it's about damn ti..." Clark eyes opened, and his voice trailed off. Swallowing heavily, his eyes roved up, down and up again "Wh..." He swallowed, licked his lips and tried again "What is that?"

Her smiled widened "You said that you haven't seen my nightclothes, so I thought that I'd show you the kind of stuff I wear to bed."

"You mean the kind of stuff you barely wear." Getting to his feet, he crossed the room and came to a stop in front of her. Hooking one finger in the bodice he tugged gently, before slipping his arms around her waist. His hands smoothed up and down her back, dragging the silken material over her skin "From now on, keep this stuff on when I come in the morning."

"Why?" She asked coyly.

"So that I can have a good long ogle before I have even greater pleasure taking it off you." He replied huskily, before scooping her up in his arms and striding to the bedroom.

He rolled on the mattress taking her with him, and smoothed his hand up the side of her leg stopping just below the knee "How are you feeling really?"

"I'm feeling fine." Lois hunched a shoulder uncomfortably "I know that scraped knees don't exactly look sexy..."

"I never even noticed them. I was too busy trying not to swallow my tongue at seeing you in this flimsy bit of nothing." He cut in absently as his eyes once again took their fill of her body encased by the barely there nightdress.

His fingertips skimmed over the ball of her knee, up her thigh to under the hem and up to tug lightly on the lace of matching panties, then around to her bottom, and down the back of her thigh "You really have to wear this again."

"You don't want to see the others I have." She teased lightly.

His eyes shot to hers "Are they all like this?"

"Similar; some have more and some have less." She giggled when his eyes widened.

"How the hell could they have less?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

His smile became huge as visions of Lois scantily clad and cavorting playfully bloomed in his head "Thank you."

"I wear these all the time, not just for you." She gurgled in laughter.

"Aw why'd you have to go and say that for?" Clark griped loudly.

"Because it's true."

"Well stop ruining it and let me dream." He grumbled quietly and quickly cut of any reply she could make by sealing his mouth to hers.

They rolled over the bed smoothly, and back again just as unhurriedly. Hands caressed, fingertips glided as lips stayed locked.

When it was over, he sighed in contentment before turning on his side and lifting up on one elbow to look down at her "Tomorrow night they're showing an old movie in the park; it's one of the free summer in the park events held by the local council."

"Yeah I heard about it."

"So do you wanna go?"

"Yeah it'll be fun." Lois replied and moved to lie on her side to face him "What movies playing?"

Clark frowned and scratched his ear absently "I can't remember; no hang on I know it's a Bette Davis one."

"Well her movies are usually good; do we have to take anything?"

"Just something to sit on, and snacks if we feel like having them."

"So am I providing the snacks or something to sit on?" She asked dryly.

"I'll take care of everything." He offered magnanimously.

She snorted softly "What's there to take care of what? Providing us with a plastic chair and a Twinkie each?"

"If you don't want the Twinkie I'll eat it." He replied snottily, before reaching down and plucking up the nightdress from the floor "Sit up."

"What for?" Lois groused but did as asked, then held up her arms at his gesture.

"Talking about food has made me hungry so we're going to raid the fridge for a snack, and I want you to wear this while we do it." He tugged the nightie over her head, and slowly smoothed his palms down her body before getting up and tugging on his jeans.

"We only ate dinner a couple of hours ago." She griped and climbed out of bed.

"Yeah but hot dogs aren't exactly filling." He informed her speedily. When she shrugged unconcerned, he figured it was time to remind her of the old saying "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"Actually it's directly through his chest, and depending on how much he's pissed you off is the question of whether you use a knife that's rusty or blunt." Lois speedily corrected.

Clark huffed and grumbled under his breath, but ensured that he was loud enough for her to hear "Well I hope that tomorrow night I get something more substantial."

Ignoring him, she swept out her hand to the door, but instead of moving he held out his hand in turn "Ladies first."

"You just wanna watch me from behind."

"Yeah." He agreed readily, and when she purposely wiggled her hips while walking out the room, he blew out a deep breath and shook his head "Men have no defences against that kind of weaponry; none."

oOo

Taking a seat at the table opposite Lois, Clark smiled in delight, picked up one half of the huge sandwich he'd made himself and prepared to enjoy. The smiled dropped off his face at her voice.

"Can I have half?"

"What? You want half of my sandwich!" He asked loudly in disbelief.

"Yeah, can I?" She smiled sweetly.

"Did I not ask if you wanted one when I was making mine?" Lois nodded sheepishly "Did I not ask a second time if you were sure when you refused the first time?" She nodded again and began to titter in laughter, but sobered at the look on his face "And what did I say my response would be if you changed your mind?"

"Tough luck."

"Right." He nodded, bit in and chewed.

Lois licked her lips "It looks really yummy."

"It is." He replied around a mouthful. He chewed deliberately slowly enjoying it to the full, then picked up his coke and took a gulp "This is really good."

She scooted forward a little more in her seat "Can I have some?" When he glared, she offered hopefully "I'll flash you if you like."

"You can't buy me with breasts." He groused but set down the section he'd begun to eat. Picking up the knife, Clark waved it at her "Do you have one that's rusty?" Lois laughed but shook her head. Heaving out a disappointed sigh, he cut the untouched half of his sandwich precisely in half and reluctantly handed it to her.

She looked at it then looked at him "This is only a quarter."

"Be grateful I'm giving you that much." He replied before picking up the half of his sandwich he'd bitten into minutes ago and continued to enjoy.

Figuring that she could always con him out of the other piece when she'd finished the first, Lois shrugged and munched "This is good."

"Hmm." Clark nodded in accord "I saw the salsa in the fridge, do you have any corn chips to go with them?"

Bobbing her head, she pointed "In the cupboard."

Dusting the crumbs from his fingers, Clark got up, took a step forward then quickly turned back and picked up his plate. Ignoring her pout, he retrieved the chips and tossed the bag on the table, got the salsa from the fridge and sat down again.

Snagging a chip from the bag she'd opened, he dragged it through the dip "Hey Lo, what would you say if I told you that I was roughhousing with my friends and got hurt."

"That it serves you right." She replied without hesitation.

"My god it's true." He goggled at her incredulous.

"What?"

"Women have no compassion for a poor man who's in pain."

"We have plenty of compassion for a poor man who's in pain. We just don't have any for any for a nitwit who brought it on himself knowing he was going to be hurt, before behaving like an idiot." She corrected, and reaching over snagged the uneaten quarter sandwich from off his plate while he was sat there staring at her flabbergasted.

oOo

Standing on the porch a couple of hours later, Clark dug his hands into his pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet "It's a pretty hot night."

"Uh huh."

"When you think about it, it's really unseasonably hot for this time of year." He informed her seriously.

"Mmm."

"I think we need a storm to cool things down a bit, but there doesn't seem to be one on the horizon any time soon." He sighed dispiritedly.

"Well I don't know about that." Lois shook her head "The weather man predicted showers later in the week."

"The weather man; what does he know?" Clark grunted contemptuously "He has the best job in the world." At her lifted brow, he held out his hand in appeal "How many people would still be employed if they continually got things wrong the way the weather man does? Not many that's how many. Yet he stays employed even though he tells people it's going to rain and then it doesn't, and when he says it's going to be a bit cold and it's freezing, or when he says it's going to be a bit breezy and you end up with cyclonic winds." He snorted again indignantly "If I made that many mistakes on the job, I would have failed at farming years ago."

Lois giggled and deliberately encouraged him "And the worst part is we all still tune in to hear what he has to say, when in fact we could just as easily stick our head out the window and know what the days going to be like."

"Exactly." Clark agreed rapidly.

"Yes and the weather man..."

"But getting back to the point..." He interrupted loudly, determined to stay on topic "If for the first time in his life the weather man is right, and we are going to get rain that doesn't necessarily mean it's going to cool things down Lois."

"Really." She asked politely.

"Uh huh, some of those summer storms don't actually cool anything down; all they really do is make the heat wet so it's a whole lot worse afterwards."

"That's true."

"Yeah, I mean it's sultry, and humid, steamy, and muggy; it's really quite gross." He remarked earnestly.

"Hmm." Lois coughed to hide her smile.

Looking up at the sky, Clark pursed his lips and considered out loud "And you know summers really only starting Lo, so it's only going to get hotter in the next couple of months."

"Uh huh." Making herself comfortable against the door jamb, she crossed her arms and waited

"So it doesn't matter whether it rains or not, there are going to be a lot of interminably long hot nights between now and the end of August." Seeing her nod, Clark figured that he was wining and felt like crowing in victory. Deciding to push just that little bit more he murmured huskily "The kind of nights when the air is so thick it feels like you can't even breathe."

"What are you getting it?" She asked directly, knowing exactly what he was up to.

"Nothing, I just thought it couldn't hurt to remind you how hot it's going to be." He replied innocently.

"Ok."

Clark bobbed his head fractionally "Sometimes a person can't sleep it's just so hot. All they do is toss and turn all night long..." He ignored her snicker and continued persuasively "...and sometimes those long hot nights don't seem so bad or so long if you have someone to share it with."

"Someone?" Lois questioned simply.

"Uh huh..." He leant in close and whispered "..._someone_."

She nodded slowly, saw his eyes light up and asked pleasantly "So is all this talk about the weather your subtle way of telling me, without actually saying the words of course, that you're going on another date tomorrow night so I'm not to expect you?"

"NO!"

Ignoring his reply she continued "Because if so that means it's open season for me again too and..."

"Oh no it's not; I wasn't saying that at all" Clark disputed swiftly and steadily "I'm not seeing anyone else and neither are you. I was just saying that it's hot..." he heard the choked giggle and gave up in defeat "I'll see you in the morning."

When she nodded, he pulled her to him for a quick hard kiss before letting go and loping down the stairs. Sighing deeply, Clark got into his pickup and began the drive home.

Maybe next time he'd forget about playing with words or giving her any colourful euphemisms and just use the direct approach. Sure this was the second time that she'd shot him down, but that wasn't to say that she'd refuse a third time. The third time was the charm, so he'd just have to try again.

oOo

Closing the door behind him, Lois let out the laugh that she'd been suppressing. She knew that he'd try again, but how on earth he could possibly think she'd fall for that crap was beyond her. She didn't know whether to give him points for tenacity or originality.

Turning off the hallway and lounge rooms lights she went to bed. Smoothing her hand over the empty side, her lips twisted. She was tempted, a lot, but she'd learnt not to give into temptation. The few times she'd allowed men to stay the night it hadn't gone in her favour. She'd tried with boyfriends who knew of her abilities, and she'd tried with men who didn't. However it didn't seem to matter if she had an emotional investment in the man or not, her mind was at its most vulnerable upon first awakening, so it was best if she did it alone.

If she ever decided to relax her self-imposed rule and try again, then she would try it with Clark. She'd missed him yesterday morning. She couldn't say that she missed his cheerful demeanour, anyone that chipper first thing in the morning should be shot in her opinion but apart from that, she had to admit that yesterday her day had started out by being blah.

There was no one singing loudly and horrendously off key in her shower. No one for her to yell at for leaving wet towels on the bed, no one doing the crossword in her newspaper before she could get to it, no one driving her to distraction by replying "I don't care, what'd you feeling like doing tonight" in response to her question, and no one to cook her breakfast.

She'd thought that she could do him a huge favour by offering to take him and the guys some lunch but when she called Clark and offered, he'd told her not to worry about it since he'd already arranged for one of the staff to bring them lunch from the Talon. Then when she asked if he needed any help, he'd actually had the nerve to accuse her of looking for excuses to go out and see him because she missed him. She'd sniffed disparagingly, told him that she was just trying to be a good Samaritan then slammed down the phone when he began to childishly sing "You like me, you miss me, you wanna come over and kiss me."

Her body began to shake silently with laughter when his voice once again intruded into her mind with his stupid song.

He was so up himself, but she had to admit that her day had perked up after that little exchange. Clark Kent was far and away the most infuriating, fun, maddening, entertaining, provoking, enjoyable man that she'd met in her life.


	8. Chapter 8

Hello, I'm so pleased that people are continuing to enjoy this story; thank you for letting me know. Here is the next chapter, I hope you all like it.

Linda

oOo

**11****th**** July**

_Approximately 11.30am_

Seeing the movement in the distance Lois lifted her foot off the pedal and steered the car to the shoulder of the road before bringing it to a halt. She stared hard through the windscreen but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, yet knew that she had seen something only a couple of minutes ago.

Opening the door she climbed out and looked around but all she could see in either direction was fields of corn on both sides of the road. Pushing the sunglasses on top of her head, she moved cautiously forward while her eyes continued to scan the area along the ground.

At the small whimper she paused for a beat before cautiously moving closer then came to a stop. All she could see hiding among the stalks of corn was a small little head and two big eyes staring up at her in fear. Backing up slowly, she retrieved the bottle of water from the front seat of the car, and returned to where the dog was hiding. Kneeling down slowly in an attempt not to frighten the animal off, she unscrewed the top of the bottle and waited.

The two stared at each other quietly for 15 minutes, neither moving forward nor away.

Cupping one hand she poured some water into it and held it out. The dog stared but didn't move as its body continued to tremble and shake indicating the animal was unsure of her intentions and it's welcome "It's ok boy, I promise not to hurt you" Lois reassured softly. When the liquid drained out of her hand, she poured in another handful and sighed quietly in relief when the beast inched forward to lap up the water. When it was finished, she poured some more, and again. The dog came closer each time, and finally crawled into her lap hefting out a deep pant when it had enough.

Seeing the cuts on its legs, the basic condition of the dog, she felt like exploding in fury but pushed the anger down deep determined not to not scare the animal now that it trusted her at last.

Getting to her feet, she cradled the dog carefully, walked back the car and after opening the boot, scrabbled around in the grocery bag until she found the packet of ham that she'd just purchased and fed it to the dog, smiling sadly when it was devoured greedily. Once it was all gone, Lois snuggled the dog gently on the passenger seat, spent the next 5 minutes reassuring the beast that all would be well and when it curled up, she got back behind the wheel, turned the car around and headed back towards town once again.

oOo

_Approximately 2pm_

Driving home Lois began to think about what she could do with the dog. If she kept him more often than not he'd end up living in a kennel since she spent so much time travelling. That wouldn't be fair on any animal in normal circumstances, but after the distressful experience the dog had already endured, stability was something it would need.

She could leave him at an animal shelter, that's where people who lost their pets went looking for them. Then again whoever had '_lost'_ him in the first place had taken great care to ensure he couldn't be traced back to them. So one, the dog didn't deserve to have them foisted onto him again, ever. Two, they didn't deserve to get him back, ever; and three, she wouldn't trust them not to do it again, ever.

It was too damn bad there wasn't a shop that sold people who threw away their pets. She'd happily bankrupt herself buying a few and dumping them in the middle of nowhere to see how they liked having to survive in the rough with nothing; bastards.

Shaking her head to banish blood thirsty thoughts of vengeance, Lois got back to the mater of hand. She could put the dog into an animal shelter, but what if no one took a shine to him? He'd already been discarded; he certainly didn't need to feel like a pariah if no one else wanted him either. Even worse was if no one took him quickly enough, the shelter would put him down due to overburdening in their cages. Nuh huh, she wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't a prisoner who deserved to be slapped behind bars for his crimes against society; much less having his life snuffed out because his only felony was people's inability to see his adorableness. Forget it; the shelter was out!

She could always advertise and ask if someone wanted a pet; that was possibly the best solution. After all who'd say they wanted a pet if they didn't really want one? Hmmm, now that was the question wasn't it. Just because she'd become friends with a lot of the townsfolk that didn't mean someone she didn't know wouldn't answer her ad. Could she really give him to a stranger; to someone who could have nefarious intentions, or who's pet keeping skills were dubious at best? Her eyes flicked to the passenger seat to find the dog was occupied licking himself. Ok, he was cute and all but was that really necessary? She thought Clark was cute but she didn't...actually yeah she had. Ok, well that aside she wouldn't feel comfortable giving the animal to a stranger. Nor would she feel easy giving him away to a parent who wanted a pet for their kid. Children could be un-intentionally rough with animals, and that was the last thing the beast needed. So advertising was out.

She was running out of options. Keeping him wasn't practical, advertising was out, and the shelter was a no go, maybe she could ask Clark for some ideas.

Hmm, Clark had loved Shelby at first sight so she didn't have to wonder if he liked dogs, she already knew that he did, and she also knew that he'd look after and protect the little beast. Plus with all that open space on the farm the dog could run around free to its heart content. She couldn't think of any reason that Clark wouldn't make a good owner for the little mutt. He was actually the only one she felt easy in mind about, and he'd likewise be the one who the dog would love staying with the best. Flicking her eyes to the rear-view mirror and seeing no cars behind, Lois turned the car around and headed towards the farm while her mind now became employed tossing around names for the animal.

oOo

After pulling up in front of the house of the Kent farm, Lois switched off the ignition then turned to pick up the little beast carefully. When it whimpered she crooned to it softly and smiled when it snuggled into her chest, then laughed lightly when the dog reached up and began to lick the underside of her chin.

Climbing out of the car, she turned in circles but not seeing any activity, frowned and called out "Clark are you around?"

When he didn't appear she called a little louder "_Clark!_"

When he still didn't appear, she yelled "**CLARK**!"

oOo

At Lois' first call Clark swiped his hands on the back of his jeans and made his way to the loft stairs.

At her second call he muttered "I'm coming" and zipped down the stairs before walking to the barn entrance in a sedate manner.

At her yell he hopped to and quickly stepped outside the barn "You screeched?" When she turned around and smiled, his footsteps paused at the pungent odour coming from her direction. Advancing cautiously forward, Clark sternly choked back the 'ewww' from shooting out of his mouth, but couldn't stop his face from contorting "Where the hell did you get that moth eaten thing from?"

At his face and tone the smile fell of her lips "I found him on the side of the road."

"Well why didn't you just throw it in the garbage?"

At the question her mouth dropped open in shock. Unable to think of what to say in reply, she instead looked proudly at the beast when he began to bark furiously at Clark "You tell him boy."

When the most god-awful high pitched yapping he'd ever heard in his life began issuing forth, Clark's mouth pulled down at the corners "Ah gees, it's alive."

"Of course it's alive!" She replied incensed "Why would I carry around a dead animal?"

"I thought it was a stuffed toy that you'd found."

For the second time Lois' mouth dropped open before snapping closed "He is not a stuffed toy! He's a dog."

His head shook as his lip curled up in disdain "That is not a dog; it's barely big enough to be classified as a rat."

"You take that back."

"Nope."

She looked down at the beast and rubbed his head softly "Don't listen to him Attila we both know…." At Clark's guffaw she shot him a look "Do you have something to say?"

"Attila; as in Attila the Hun?"

"Yeah I thought he should have the name of a fierce warrior because he has a big spirit trapped inside a small little body."

"Attila was known for his cruelty and barbarism." He reminded her dryly.

"It depends on what part of the world you're talking about." She replied loftily "Besides I didn't want to give him a cute girly name because that'd just be cruel."

"When natures been cruel enough to him already." Clark laughed when she reached out and swatted his arm. "Well he's got nerve I'll give him that. I could squash him with my little finger yet he hasn't stopped yapping at me."

"Hush boy." She stroked the dog's head and the animal calmed almost immediately.

"Being that small I'm guessing he's a Chihuahua?"

"Uh huh."

"He's got more hair than I thought Chihuahua's had."

"That's because he's a long haired one, and although he is cute he does need a bath. His coats all matted and dirty..." She leant forward and admitted softly "He's also kind of stinky, but afterwards he'll be nice and clean and then he'll be even cuter."

"Mmmm."

Deciding to ignore the non-committal response, Lois continued "I found the poor thing hiding in a field corn at the side of the road and took him to the vets. He doesn't have any tags, he's not chipped, nor is there isn't anything else to show ownership. I don't think he belongs to anyone in town because surely the vet would know, but Graham said that he hasn't seen him before."

"Neither have I." Clark agreed with a quick head shake.

Taking a deep breath she leant close and whispered "I'm sure that he was dumped. The poor thing looks half starved and when I gave him the ham that I'd bought, he gobbled it right up as if he'd never seen food before."

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because I don't want him to hear; even though he doesn't understand it must feel awful knowing he was abandoned." She smoothed her hand over the dogs back soothingly but her lips tightened in anger "Why would anyone do something so horrible."

"Because some people are just assholes Lo." He informed her truthfully.

"Yeah." She lifted him up and cooed gently, and smiled when Attila licked the tip of her nose in return "Isn't he just darling?"

Figuring that was a rhetorical question Clark shrugged but otherwise stayed silent.

"Grahame gave him a good looking over and confirmed that Attila hasn't eaten in several days. He found a sore near his bottom, and a few cuts on his front paws. One's pretty deep but the others are only shallow thank goodness, so he gave me some ointment to treat them all with, plus he gave Attila all his shots just in case, but overall says that he could be in worse condition. I'm just relieved that despite being..." she paused and spelt out "...a b a n d o n e d, that he doesn't hate all humans."

"Poor little mutt." Clark reached out to pat his head but quickly changed his mind when the dog growled.

"I was worried that he'd be feeling traumatised but he seems ok. Well as ok as anyone would feel after being y'know..." She told him leaving the sentence unfinished.

Since the animal had just growled at him and was now barking, Clark felt able to reassure her in all sincerity "He is not traumatised."

"I'm glad." She kissed the top of the dog's head then smiled "Anyway, I was thinking that you need a dog around the farm right?"

Hoping that was also a rhetorical question he played deaf.

"Clark." Lois nudged at his lack of response.

Seeing the hopeful smile on her face, he grimaced internally but thought it was time to let her down gently with a few home truths "A farm dog is supposed to help around the farm Lo, and this little dust-ball wouldn't be able to do anything."

"He can bark and let you know when anyone's coming."

"I don't know if I'd classify that sound as barking, but I wish he'd shut up."

"He doesn't bark at me." She smirked then tacked on "Well he does but it's a happy bark."

"I noticed."

"Once he gets used to you I'm sure that he'll love you, and I bet that you'll come to love him just as much as you did Shelby." She told him cheerfully.

"I seriously doubt that." He refuted swiftly.

"But don't you miss having a dog around the farm?"

"A DOG; yes."

"He is a dog, and although he's small in stature he's big in heart." She held the mutt out "Ok so he's not a farm dog but he can be a companion for you."

Suppressing a shudder at the misbegotten animal, he reluctantly took it from her and stared hard into its eyes. The dog stared back, and its lip curled showing a row of small canine teeth. Shaking his head quickly, Clark handed the animal back "Forget it!"

"You don't want him?" She asked sadly.

Completely unmoved, he shook his head again "Nope, besides he seems to be partial to you so why don't you keep him."

"I'd love to but I spend so much time on the road that he'd end up spending most of his time in a kennel, and that isn't fair, although he is small so..." Lois paused and bit her lip. Ok, so she spent most of her time on the road and keeping Attila wasn't practical, that was true. He needed stability that was also true. But she loved him, and to her mind a loving guardian who'd look after him and keep him well fed would be all the security he'd ever need. Nodding internally, she focused on Clark once again "Well it seems that I now have a travelling companion."

"I know that I encouraged you to keep him Lo, but with your bohemian lifestyle well...for starters most hotels have a no pets rule." He reminded her gently.

"Grahame told me that he's not going to get any bigger because he's an adult, so I should be able to hide him and no one will be any the wiser that I have a dog, and when I'm at home there'll be no problem." Smiling proudly at her solution, she turned Attila around and looked into his cute little face "What'd you think boy, do you think you'll like being a vagabond with me 6 months of the year?" When he woofed and licked her nose again, she smiled and cuddled him against her chest "I'm going to keep him."

"Better you than me."

"Can you look after him while I run into town? I have to go and buy him a bed, food, blanket, toys and all sorts of stuff." Without waiting for a reply Lois held the dog out, Clark unwillingly took it and after a last pat she turned for her car. When Attila began to whine she quickly swung around and promised solemnly "I'll be back soon sweetie, I just have to go and get you some stuff ok?" Placing a kiss on his nose, she leant up to peck Clark's cheek in thanks but frowned when he quickly side stepped "What?"

"You have dog lips."

Rolling her eyes, she swiped a hand across her lips and turned for the car again "I'll see you in a bit."

"What does a bit mean?"

"I don't know an hour or two."

"What? Why that long? I thought you were only going to buy him some stuff?" Clark shot out rapidly.

"I am, but I'm not just going to buy any old rubbish. I have to comparison shop between the Pet store, the supermarket, and anywhere else they sell things for animals." She explained patiently before climbing into her car and taking off.

When it was just the two of them, Clark eyeballed the mutt, the dog looked at him and once again curled its lip before it began to yap.

oOo

_6.15pm_

Clark stepped into the house and opened his mouth to call out a greeting, but at the squeaky yelping he looked down intending to make a smart ass remark about Lassie being a girl and still being more butch. However, the taunt died on his lips at the sight before him and his horror stricken eyes lifted to Lois in accusation "What have done to him?"

She hunched her shoulders defensively "I haven't done anything, I just gave him a bath is all."

"Lois he looks like a mini fluffy..." He searched for a word and finished with "...powder puff."

She felt the heat crawl upwards, and knew that her face was glowing brick red from guilt "I know but I honestly didn't mean to do it. He was just so dirty and smelly, plus his fur was all yucky so I gave him a bath and shampooed him a few times, then I blow dried his fur." She looked down at her dog and smiled apologetically "I'm sorry boy."

Attila barked and sat down on his butt. Lois looked back at Clark and shrugged "I won't blow dry it ever again." She paused and tacked on after a beat "Well except in winter. I got a book all about Chihuahua's and it says they're really sensitive to the cold weather."

Clark looked at the animal and shook his head "I just don't have the heart to tease him. I'll take him outside after dinner and let him roll around in the grass to smooth down his fur."

"But then he might get dirty again."

"At least he won't look like a fright wig with eyes." Clark retorted swiftly.

Figuring that he was right, she nodded "Ok."

oOo

_While eating dinner_

"So after shopping I stopped in to see Roy to ask him if the Murphy's would mind me keeping Attila while I'm renting their house, and he said that according to the lease small pets were ok but if anything was destroyed that I have to pay for it." Lois stopped talking long enough to take a breath and began again "But I don't have to worry about that because Attila's a sweetie. He had a good nose around the house and yard, but is mostly happy just keeping me company."

Clark nodded, forked up some roast lamb and continued eating while Lois burbled on about the dog. When he was finished, he looked at her half full plate and at the pause in conversation quickly jumped in "Haven't you ever had a pet?"

"No I've always travelled around too much to have one so I'm really excited." She grinned and scooped up some mashed potato then wiped her mouth.

"Well what about Shelby, he was partly yours." He nudged slightly.

"No he wasn't, he was mine for about 5 minutes and then he became your dog."

"Did I take him from you?" Clark asked sheepishly.

"Nah, firstly I couldn't have a pet because I didn't have a house to call my own back then. Secondly, his fur played hell with my allergies which wasn't much fun for me or him, but I found something years ago which helped so that's not an issue anymore, and thirdly I was glad your parents let you keep him because he deserved a good home."

He nodded and his lips lifted in a small smile "Well where Shelby was friendly with everyone, Attila is different. He'll tolerate other people for your sake, but it's you who has all his love."

Her smile bloomed "I love him too." Ducking her head under the table she smiled down at the dog curled up on her feet "I have to get up boy."

Attila looked up at her voice, yawned hugely, stretched and trotted off to make himself comfortable on the puffy pet lounger that she'd bought for him.

Lois looked at the mutt fondly and smiled when he stamped his little paws into the puff then rolled over it to get it just right before snuggling down "He loves that thing."

"I can't believe the amount of stuff you bought him." Clark shook his head "I only have one bed, you only have one bed, most people in the world only have one bed; but your dog has two."

"No no the puffy lounger is for when he's out here in the kitchen/lounge room area, and the snoozy cuddler is for when he sleeps at night." She corrected and at the small snort in reply, shrugged diffidently.

"Hmm, and I suppose all the toys are for when his friends come round to play, and the shampoo not to mention all the grooming stuff is to impress the girl dogs and the...'

"Oh hush, all that stuff's essential." She cut in hastily before carrying their plates to the sink for rinsing.

Clark smirked at her back but didn't say anymore, and while she took care of loading the dishwasher, he cleared the table after which he took the dog outside to roll around in the yard.

oOo

_Later that night_

Clark lifted his mouth from hers reluctantly and looked down at the animal who was currently growling while tugging and pulling on bottom of his pants leg "Will you tell the little shit to shut up already?"

Lois grinned "He doesn't like you."

"Why wouldn't he like me, I'm a likeable guy?"

"Not to him; at first sight you called him a rodent." She replied deadpan.

"I did not; I said that he _**wasn't**_ big enough to be classified as one." Clark smiled unrepentant.

"That's even worse." She showed her teeth insulted on behalf of her pet.

"On a good day and soaking wet he might be lucky enough to be mistaken for a pygmy rat." He allowed graciously.

She hit his arm and picked the beast up "Don't listen to any of his nastiness sweetie. You and I know both know you're a little cutie with a big heart and that's what matters, right boy?"

Clark grunted in laughter and took the dog from her hands "You and I both know you're really just a big brat trapped inside a little shit's body, don't we boy?"

"He's not a little shit."

"Yes he is and he's ungrateful to boot." Clark ignored the dog's rumble, and brought the mutt closer to his face "Need I remind you that I'm the one who gave you back the dignity she took from you. I let you get all mucky and manly again; she made you look like an ass." Attila woofed and licked his nose.

Lois giggled and took her dog back. Placing him on the ground she pointed "Go and play with your toys."

The dog looked between them before sulkily trotting off to his play matt.

"Well I'd better be going." He pulled the truck keys out of his pocket and stepped towards the door but instead of opening it, leant against the wall "You know I can't remember a time in my life when I've had as much fun as I did tonight." At Lois' look of puzzlement, Clark reassured her gravely "Really I can't." His brows lifted in polite enquiry "By the way can you remember how many times you screeched, and almost gave me a heart attack when I nearly stepped on the little dust-ball?"

"Four." She replied shamefaced.

He tapped his lips and asked pleasantly "And how many times did we start rolling around when you stopped us, worried that we might be accidently squashing him?"

Lois cleared her throat and held up her fingers "Three."

"And how many times did he whine until you gave him your attention, only to find out there was nothing wrong?"

She shrugged and blushed "I can't remember?"

"Six." Clark answered instantly.

"I'm sure it wasn't that many."

"SIX!" He stressed again "And how many tim..." His voice cut off when she stepped forward and planted her lips on his.

Their arms wrapped tight around each other, as their mouths stayed locked. Turning around until she pressed up against the wall, Clark stepped forward as the kiss deepened. When they were both breathless, his lips lifted from hers and their eyes opened.

Brushing his fingers over her jaw, he growled softly "Next time how about putting him outside or locking the bedroom door so that he can't get in."

Lois smiled embarrassed "I didn't want him to feel that I was..."

"Deserting him?"

"Yeah, but then I couldn't relax because it felt weird when he barked and we looked over to find him watching us."

"I couldn't relax either, which is why we didn't end up doing anything."

"We started to." She reminded him with a small smile.

Clark looked at her, and had the satisfaction of seeing her cheeks turn pink in discomfiture.

"I just have to get used to having a pet, but I'm sure that Attila will learn quickly that I'm not going anywhere, so tomorrow's bound to be better."

"I hope so." Pressing a hard kiss to her lips, he stepped back and pulled open the door "Wanna come out to my truck for a quickie?"

"Some other time." At his disappointed sigh, she ruffled his hair "Sorry about tonight."

"That's ok, don't give it another thought. I'll be thinking about it enough for both of us." Clark muttered sulkily.

Snickering she pushed him out the door "See you."

Nodding he swung open the front door and left after calling goodnight to the dog, and pressing a last swift kiss to her lips.

oOo

Getting comfortable under the covers, Lois yawned, turned over and closed her eyes but they snapped open a moment later at the scratching of nails on the floor followed by a soft droning whine from below.

Switching on the bedside light, she looked over the edge to find Attila attempting to crawl up the bedcovers and cocked her brow. She carried him back to his doggy bed but had no sooner slipped back under the covers of her own, when he was at her side once more.

"You want to sleep with me tonight huh?"

He whimpered softly.

"Well you're not the type of male I prefer to share my bed with." Scooping him up from the floor, she set him down, and smiled gently when he instantly curled up and huddled into the side of her waist "But you are sweetie." Curling her arm around him protectively, she patted him gently with her hand and drifted off to sleep murmuring "And as sleeping companions go, you'll do in a pinch."

oOo

**13****th**** July**

At the ringing of his phone Clark wiped his hands, pulled it out of his pocket and at the overbright chirpiness of her greeting, knew that she wanted something.

"Hello."

"Hi Clark it's me Lois."

"I know."

"What are you doing?"

"Why?"

"Are you really busy?"

"Yep." He lied automatically.

"Oh, well I need a little favour." She returned blithely.

"What favour?" He asked suspiciously.

She took a deep breath and smilingly replied "Well its Mavis' birthday today; she's 65 and a few of the ladies have organised a lunch for her. Anyway, Tina called and asked if I'd like to join them and of course I would, I mean 65's nothing to sneeze at, but I need someone to look after Attila for a few hours. I'd take him with me but I don't want to in case a couple of the women bring their kids. Small children don't mean to be rough, but they can be and Attila's only small so if they tease him he could bite them. Plus you know what he's like around food, not to mention he might get frightened if there are too many people present so I was wondering if you could look after him for me."

"Yeah, bring him round."

"Thanks Clark you're the best, I'll drop him at your place about 12 ok."

"Uh huh." Clicking of the phone, he tucked it into his pocket and smiled to himself. He knew that Lois had wanted something and sure enough his instincts didn't play him false. Ah well, he didn't mind the beast, and she might just decide to thank him later. If not he'd just have to remind her that she owed him one.

oOo

Hanging up she turned to smile at her dog "Guess what boy; you're spending the day with Clark." Attila barked, and not knowing if he understood or not, Lois grabbed her car keys and purse "But first I have to go and buy a present, and then come home to get ready so we don't have any time to waste. Let's go boy."

With the dog trotting along behind, she left the house and returned an hour later happy with the purchases she'd made.

After quickly wrapping up the present that she'd bought, she had a shower, did her hair and makeup then turned to inspect her wardrobe. Selecting a dress she held it up for inspection "What'd you think boy, is this dress ok?" Attila woofed at her voice and taking that as approval Lois stepped in front of the mirror and held it up in front of her.

The dress was perfect for a lunch party on a summer's day. It hit just above the knee, the material was flowy in a rich vibrant pattern, the thin tie at the waist pulled it in nicely so the top bloused just slightly, and the scalloped trim on the hem and upper bodice with the spaghetti straps just gave it the touch of elegance. Lifting one hand to hold her hair up, Lois grinned wider; perfect.

After slipping on the dress, she upswept the sides of her hair leaving the back loose, stepped into a pair of high heeled sandals, then stood in front of the mirror again to survey the results. Not too shabby. She didn't look either over or under dressed. Now all she needed was earrings, some perfume and she was ready.

20 minutes later after storing the last of the dog's things in the car, the present plus the cake she'd purchased from the bakery, Lois placed Attila in the front passenger seat and was soon on her way.

oOo

"In here are his water and food bowls, a couple of his toys, and some kibble." Lois handed over the bag that contained all the dog should need for a few hours with a grateful smile "Thanks Clark I really appreciate this."

He nodded, placed the bag on the ground and looked her up and down "Did you make that?"

"Yeah, what'd you think?" She twirled around to show him the full effect of the dress and at the look in his eyes felt even more gratified.

"It's nice; very nice." His eyes roved over the garment again, as his fingers reached out to slide over one of the straps hugging her shoulder "But the straps on this seem just as useless as the ones on your shoes."

Lois frowned in confusion and looked down at her strappy high heeled sandals; she thought they looked great "What'd you mean?"

"Well you've only got bits of leather protecting your foot, which seems pointless. You could turn an ankle, or get bitten by something and then where would you be? They look nice but they're not really practical Lo."

"They're not meant to be practical; they're cute." She replied patiently.

He scratched his head "Cute of course, that's what's important." At her nodding smile, he lifted his hand and knocked on one of the dangling earrings, liking the way it sparkled in the sunlight "And these?"

"They're pretty."

"You're pretty." He told her sincerely.

At the simple compliment her smile blossomed. Stepping forward Lois pressed her lips to his "Thank you. Well I'd better go, and thanks again for taking care of Attila for me." Looking down she smoothed her hand over the dog's head before turning for the car "I'll see you both later."

Getting behind the wheel, she tooted the horn and was off.

Clark watched after the car and looked down at the mutt "She looked really good, didn't she?"

The dog replied by lifting his leg and giving his ear a good scratch.

Nodding in agreement, Clark picked up the bag she'd left, took it inside the house and after unpacking everything came out a few minutes later to find Attila waiting for him at the base of the stairs barking testily.

"I was only gone for three minutes max, what's your problem?"

oOo

_15 minutes later_

When silence finally reigned, Clark lifted his eyes to the heavens muttered "Thank you" then looked at the animal panting at his feet "It's about damn time."

Immediately the dog began to bark once again.

"Why did I have to open my big mouth?" Scrubbing his hands through his hair, Clark bent down and ignoring the dogs indignant yapping, picked him up to stare at him eye to eye "Will you shut up?"

Attila's lip curled before he continued once again.

"She only left a little while ago and isn't going to back before 3. If we're lucky she'll be back sooner but either way until then we have to put up with each other, whether we like it or not." He muttered the last under his breath. The animal cocked it ears and growled low in its throat "Yeah, well I feel the same way about you." Carting the dog up the stairs and into the house, Clark put the animal down, grabbed his bowl and the bag of kibble Lois had so thoughtfully provided and after tossing some in, stood back as Attila began to chow down.

At least if the pest was eating, it wasn't yapping.

Grabbing a mug from the rack, he poured himself a cup of coffee and stood at the sink while looking at the animal.

Lois had only had Attila for three days, and it already felt like an eternity. The little shit loved the hell out of her. He licked her, cuddled into her, yapped happily and was content when she was around. It clearly saw her as its saviour and yeah ok it was right in that respect, but it just as clearly saw him as the interloper.

Only a few days ago he'd felt like he was Adam living in the Garden of Eden, and then the serpent in the form of one small dog came along and kicked him out of paradise. Just four days ago he didn't have watch where he walked, put up with a little terror growling at him anytime he went near Lois, nor worry about squashing the beast while rolling around naked with her. Now it was almost like they had a chaperone 24/7 and worse, one who had doggy breath and was intent on taking all Lois' time and attention away from him.

"Well I've got news for you pal; I had dibs on her first." Clark informed the animal loudly.

Attila lifted his head and barked once before sticking his nose back into his food bowl.

Recalling happier days when he could tumble Lois down at any given time without a little pest thinking that he was invited to play too, Clark smiled happily. At the demanding woof he was brought out of his musings with a jolt, and scowling at the beast griped loudly "Aww c'mon, are you saying that I can't even daydream about me and Lois without you intruding there too?" Attila barked while continuing to scratch at the kitchen door frantically. Opening it with a flourish, Clark watched as the pooch limped onto the porch, before coming to a dead halt at the head of the stairs. When the dog looked back at him pitifully, he gave it a superior smile and asked mockingly "So now that you need my help you're not growling at me huh?"

Setting his mug on the bench, he stepped forward and scooped the dog up to carry him down the stairs. Putting him down on the ground, Clark turned his eyes away while the animal took care of business, and at its yap looked down to address the beast directly "Right, well I've got work and since she's asked me to keep an eye on you while she has lunch with her friends, then you're going to have to come with me."

The dog cocked its head and woofed.

oOo

_Watchtower approx 1pm_

Bruce kicked back in his seat, rested his feet on the coffee table, and linked his hands over his tummy. Looking at his fellow comrades who were likewise kicked back in a similar fashion, he commented casually "Gentlemen, it seems to me that we haven't seen our friend Clark around lately. Does it seem that way to you as well?"

"Uh huh." All the men chorused together.

"In fact, it's been weeks since we've heard so much as a peep out of him." The men all nodded as one "Now it's common knowledge that summer on the farm is a particularly busy time of the year for him, but..." Bruce trailed off deliberately.

"But he's never been too busy to get together with the guys for a drink, or to find out if we have plans for the night." Oliver chimed in helpfully.

"That's precisely what I was thinking." Bruce concurred freely "I'd also like to call your attention to the fact that we haven't seen hide nor hair of him since the last time he showed up."

"Which was three weeks ago when he just happened to mention that was seeing a new lady friend." Bart recalled helpfully.

"Mmm." Bruce nodded encouragingly.

"One that he refused to tell us anything about, but that he did seem more than a little frustrated over." Victor contemplated loudly.

"And one whom he'd given up dating other women for." AC rounded up.

"Right!" Bruce agreed with a decisive nod "Well I've called him twice since then to ask if he wanted to come out with us, and both times he begged off." He lifted his brows and looked at each man "When he refused the second time I even enticed him by saying that I'd introduce him to a couple of underwear models, and he still said no."

"You didn't introduce us to any of them." Bart complained loudly.

Bruce rolled his eyes "That's because there weren't any; I just wanted to know what he'd say."

"Oh, so what excuse did he give?" Bart asked curiously.

"He mumbled something about being busy, and when I asked if he was still seeing the lady he told us about, he mumbled some more before hanging up." Bruce informed them all dryly.

"Well if he's still seeing her that means it's been going on for 6 weeks now." AC whistled and shook his head "That has to be a new world record."

"It is." Bart agreed rapidly "Well I wouldn't mind finding out just how his romance with her is going."

"What you mean is that you wouldn't mind finding out just how far he's fallen, and if he's admitted it yet." Victor corrected with a hearty chuckle.

"Yep."

Bruce slapped his hands together and rubbed them in glee "Me too; all those who are likewise curios say 'me too'."

"Me too." All sang out as one.

"Ok, and since he's clearly not going to come willingly so that we can grill him, I say we need to come up with some nefarious means to get him here. All those in favour say 'aye'."

"Aye!" Four voices called out cheerfully.

"Right so this is our campaign on action. Firstly, we'll get him here. Secondly, we'll lull him into a false sense of security by talking about nothing much of import, and thirdly, when he's nice and relaxed we'll move in for the kill." He eyed the men, saw the gung-ho smiles on all their faces, and tapped a finger against the side of his nose "But we'll take our cue from him and adjust the conversation as and when it's needed; agreed?"

"Agreed!"

Bruce smiled and rubbed his hands together once again "Good."

"Just out of curiosity; do you know any underwear models?" Bruce and Oliver both nodded at the question. Victor looked at AC and Bart before turning back hopefully "How about introducing us to them."

oOo

At receiving the brief message from Oliver which only contained the words "We need you at the Watchtower" Clark tucked the phone into his pocket and glanced at the dog. He didn't have time to muck around; Attila was going to have to come with him. Zipping to the house he swiftly changed clothes, pulled on the long black coat that he wore for these occasions, and stuffing a chew toy in one of the large pockets, picked up the dog and stuffed him into the other.

Attila yipped indignantly and popped his head out, but when Clark raced out of the house and shot upwards into the sky, the animal popped its head back down and huddled into the corner.

Striding into the watchtower minutes later Clark patted the pocket comfortingly, opened his mouth to speak but didn't get the chance to say anything when the beast furiously began jumping up and down in his coat pocket yapping in its high pitched doggy tone.

The men looked at him, looked around and looked confused until Bruce saw the little head popping up and down and pointed "What the hell is that?"

"What does it look like?" Clark gritted out and ignored the heat creeping up his neck.

Oliver peered closer and began to scream with laughter "It looks like a fur-ball that a cat coughed up."

"A fur-ball that squeaks." Bruce jeered in turn.

Clark wanted to tell them to stuff it but since he agreed with their assessment, he didn't feel he could defend Attila, so just bit his tongue and waited for the ribbing to stop.

"Man that is just embarrassing." AC declared to all present.

"No, embarrassing is when you wish the earth would open up and swallow you and then there's that." Victor grinned jauntily and pointed at Clark "That's in a class way beyond embarrassing."

Bart was speechless, and just shook his head or nodded in agreement at everything the others said.

Unable to take anymore, Clark snarled in mortification "Will you lot shut up? I had no choice but to bring him since I was babysitting when your call came in."

"Babysitting?" Bruce asked amused before nodding in understanding "I see, to keep the girlfriend happy you're taking care of her..." He looked for the word and tacked on after a beat "...animal."

"Wrong!"

"Well if you're not doing it to keep her happy, then you're doing it to score points with her." Bart declared confidently "The things we men do just to impress the opposite sex is downright humiliating, and buddy I've gotta say you've really excelled yourself; even I've never sunk that low." He finished by shaking his head sadly.

"Who has?" Oliver asked with a huge grin.

Clark silently cursed the colour he knew was staining his cheeks, and turned his attention to the dog who was still snarling and yipping while dancing around angrily in his pocket "I wish this little shit would shut up. He yaps at me all the time, but with her he's a sweetheart."

"Her?"

"Lois..." He replied without thinking then squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"So that's her name." Bart grinned widely but was overruled by two other voices.

"Lois?" Oliver's brows rose high "I only know one woman by the name of Lois, and she's an ex-girlfriend of mine."

"Mine too." AC chimed in before looking at his friend "So is your lady friend the same Lois that Ollie and I know?"

Ignoring them Clark spoke loudly over the still barking dog "What's going on? Oliver called me in a flap so I raced over here but none of you are even dressed for work. In fact it looks like you're all just sitting around having a tea party."

"We're having a drink." Bruce replied and lifted his beer in toast.

"So is there an emergency or not?"

"Not." Victor replied readily.

His eyes turned to Oliver in accusation "You said it was an emergency."

"I just said that we needed you at the watchtower." Oliver returned unfazed.

"Making it _sound_ like an emergency." He pointed out.

"Don't blame me because you got the wrong idea." Oliver waved a hand in unconcern.

"You mean to tell me that you wasted my time." Clark levelled his gaze at all present.

"What time; it took you less than two minutes to get here." Bruce drawled and rolled his eyes.

"I could have panicked." He shot back caustically.

"You'd need to have a pulse to do that." AC chimed in with a snort.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that since you're virtually indestructible, you don't tend to panic." Bart answered helpfully.

"I still could have." Clark muttered ungraciously before looking down at the still barking dog and growled "Will you shut up!"

"So what is he really?" AC asked curiously.

"He's a dog. Haven't you ever seen a Chihuahua before?" Clark asked sarcastically.

"Not in real life but I didn't think they were that small." Victor cackled jovially.

Clark ground his teeth and perjured himself without battling an eyelash "Well for your information Attila's huge for his breed. He's like the Mack Truck of Chihuahua's..." He shot them each a look before finishing firmly "...but he's still a **dog**."

"He's a really really small dog, so he probably has a really tiny penis." Bart zipped over to Clark, but when he put his hand out Attila snapped at him "Ow, what the hell."

"Hey Bart I'd bite you too if you said that about me." Oliver called out amused.

Zipping back to his seat, Bart held the cold beer bottle against his sore finger and glowered at the animal who was still barking at him.

"He growls at me, but at least he's never tried to bite me." Clark grinned smugly and at the sulky look on his friends face informed him cheerfully "You're safe, he's had all his shots."

Figuring he might as well have a drink now that he was here, Clark took the dog out of his pocket and put it on the ground. Immediately Attila limpingly ran over to the seating area and continued barking at Bart causing the men to hoot in laughter.

Their laughter sent the animal into a frenzy. He started howling and yapping at all of them, but their continued amusement was too much for the beast who began nipping at their ankles. For the next few minutes all Clark could hear was the dog growling and barking, the men cursing loudly as they pulled their feet up onto the couch, and the sound of his own laughter at the spectacle.

"Clark will you stop laughing and get this animal away from us?" Oliver demanded bitterly.

Strolling over the fridge, he pulled out a beer, ripped off the tab and sipped leisurely "Why should I?"

"CLARK!" The men all yelled in unison.

"You've all committed a number of sins against me and Attila today and he's just making sure the bad guys don't get away with their bad behaviour; you all agree with that right?" He asked pleasantly.

When Attila began to jump up and down determined to get at their ankles, Clark hissed and booed loudly in disappointment at their cowardice, when they all shot of the couch to jump up on the furniture scattered around the room to get away from the mutt.

"CLARK!" All yelled again.

Taking a seat on the couch, he reminded them pensively "Let's see; firstly you get me here under false pretences by making it sound like an emergency, and then you actually say it's my fault for misunderstanding." He clicked his tongue sorrowfully "Tchk, tchk, tchk; now that wasn't nice. Poor Attila here had to come along for the ride since I was babysitting him, and he didn't enjoy it at all, so that kinda pissed him off. Then you made fun of the poor guy because of his size, and he can't help it you know. And then Bart added insult to injury by inferring that he had a really tiny penis." Shrugging, he put his feet up on the coffee table and relaxed "You've offended both Attila and me."

"I'm sorry." Each man called out simultaneously.

Holding back the scream of laughter that wanted to pop out, Clark enjoyed the sight of his friends perched on the tables, chairs and ladders trying to escape from one small dog. Any time one of them even attempted to climb down, Attila turned in their direction and barked making them jump back up again. He looked at the mutt with new respect. He'd never felt so much kinship with the beast as he did right at this moment "Well boy I feel better now that they've apologised, what about you?"

The dog was unappeased and let everyone know it by continuing to snarl and snap while jumping up and down.

"Bart will you apologise already?" Victor called out loudly.

"I already did."

"To the dog!" Oliver bellowed and hopped up another step on the ladder when the animal nipped his ankle.

"I'm sorry Attila I'm sure it's really huge." Bart yelled as he continued to zip around the room.

Figuring they'd suffered enough indignity, Clark zoomed over and picked up the mutt before retaking his seat "Quiet!" The dog growled once more then began licking its paw.

Seeing the little terror had calmed at last, the men heaved out deep breaths and came down from their perches carefully. The animal growled, and the men stopped in their tracks, but walked forward cautiously when the dog turned his attention back to his paw.

"He's a real little shit." Oliver declared loudly, but felt impressed in spite of himself.

"Yep" Clark agreed readily.

"Does he come at you like that?" Victor asked meekly.

"If you mean does he bark at me, yes; but I've never climbed up onto the furniture to get away from him." He snickered enjoying the flush of embarrassment on each face. When Attila whimpered Clark frowned hoping the mutt hadn't hurt himself. Taking the paw in his hands he rubbed it softly, grimacing when the dog licked his fingers.

Bruce shifted his shoulders uneasily, and attempted to regather his composure "He's a hell of a watchdog."

"He's a menace and his name suits him." AC remarked bluntly.

"Yes to both." Clark agreed swiftly before placing the dog on the ground. Zipping over to the kitchenette, he grabbed a bowl and filled it with water then placed it on the ground beside Attila, smiling when the mutt lapped at the liquid. Pulling out the toy he'd brought from his pocket, he handed it over and watched as the animal began to chew happily.

At the squeaking Bart winced "Doesn't that sound bug you?"

"You wanna try and take his favourite toy away from him?" Clark asked politely. At the rapid headshake, he nodded "I figure it keeps him quiet so it's a fair exchange." Retaking his seat, he relaxed back into the couch "So why'd you really ask me to come?"

"No reason, we were just having a drink and as it's been a while since we've seen you, I thought that I'd give you a call to come join us." Oliver replied serenely.

Not believing that for one moment, Clark asked dryly "So why didn't you just ask me to come for a drink?"

"Because I've asked you twice now and both times you begged off." Bruce reminded him promptly.

Conceding the point he inclined his head "Ok, so now that I'm here what'd you really want?"

"Did we pull you away from anything important on the farm?" AC asked apologetically.

"No, if you had I would have left directly after finding out that you didn't need me." He admitted truthfully and the men nodded in understanding "At the moment my friends and I are all helping each other to get our crops in, but luckily you caught me on a free day so I'm good."

"Are you almost finished?"

"Nope, we did some of mine and Marks last week, we're starting on Tim's tomorrow, then Neil's straight afterwards by which time Dean's crops will be ready for us to start on them, and then we'll go round again until we're all done."

"Aren't you ever tempted to just use super everything to get yours done and over with?" Bart asked curiously.

"Nah, I love doing things the slow old fashioned way, and I've been working the farm for so long that it almost runs like a well oiled machine now. There have been times when I've had to use my powers but those times are the exception, not the rule." Clark smiled and sipped at the beer "Besides I like working with my friends, I like that we all help each other to get our crops harvested, it feels rewarding."

"Well we can understand that." Oliver tilted his head, glancing around the watchtower to indicate where they were.

Clark's lips quirked "Yeah."

"Do your friends know about you?" Victor asked curiously.

"No, I'm sure they suspect there's something different about me but they've never said anything, and although I don't think they'd care if they knew, I like being accepted as just one of the guys so I'm not interested in getting into that whole discussion either." Clark sipped his drink and admitted "It feels good y'know, having friends who accept me as I am without question. I know that I've got you lot which I appreciate, but it's also nice having friends who are just normal guys living normal lives and are happy with that; do you know what I mean?"

"We all have friends who don't know about us and who are separate from this aspect of our lives, and I don't feel that it takes away anything from my friendship with any of them or from any of you." Victor answered and all the men nodded in agreement.

"We do understand Clark. What you're saying is that it's nice knowing you don't have to give up one side of your life just to satisfy the other, you can have both and it's still ok." Bart put in with a smile.

He smiled grateful they understood "Yeah thanks."

"How long have you known them?" Victor asked curiously.

"A long time; Tim was two years ahead of me in school, Neil was in my year level and Mark was one year behind but none of us socialised with each other back then. Dean's the newcomer, he moved to Smallville about 11 years ago. We've been friends about a decade now, before that we were just neighbourly if you know what I mean?" The men all nodded in understanding "They're good guys, I think you'd like them."

"Well that doesn't say much for our taste since we like you." Bart grinned widely.

"Ha ha." He reached out and smacked Bart lightly in the arm "Anyway what I was trying to say was that apart from having you guys, I like having friends who either don't know about me, or if they do have suspicions they don't feel the need to fire a million questions in my direction to find out if I'm hiding something or not. God knows I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime." He shook his head and corrected "In all honesty it was mostly Lana who really plagued the life out of me, Chloe was mostly curious about all the weird stuff that went on in the town, and occasionally got a little too close for comfort about my secret before she discovered the truth, but living through all that probing really makes me appreciate that I now have friends who don't do it."

"Well in one way or another we've all been through similar experiences with being questioned and having to hide etc so we understand that too." Bruce smiled thinly.

"Yeah."

When Attila lifted his head and woofed, Clark's brow rose in response "What are you barking for you've got nothing to hide."

"Definitely not, according to Bart it's huge so he'd wanna show it off to all the girl dogs." Oliver remarked deadpan.

Clark spat out the drink he'd taken and laughed like a loon.

When the laughter died down Oliver shook his head "Getting back to what we were talking about though, I hate to say it Clark but you didn't do yourself any favours when you were a kid by having friends who were all girls. Females love to discuss and dissect everything to death buddy, so of course they were going to ask you a million questions."

He rolled his eyes to the ceiling "You're telling me. After Pete left there was only Chloe and Lana...kind off, but even though one was just a friend she had a crush on me, and the other was a potential girlfriend who I had a crush on, so a lot of the conversations I was subjected to from both of them were absolutely hideous." He cleared his throat and spoke in a high pitched girly tone "Clark, yesterday when I was boring you to tears yammering on about something you don't give a shit about, you said that you liked me. Well what did you mean by that exactly? Did you mean that you like me like me, or did you mean that you like me but only as a friend, and if you did mean only as a friend then why did you emphasise the word like? Let's sit down and discuss it in microscopic detail'."

The men sputtered out their drinks and roared with laughter.

When their mirth calmed down AC shuddered lightly "How many of us were put through a variation of that hell when we were teenagers?"

"We still get put through that hell, only these days we get the adult version." Victor grimaced lightly.

"Which is just as bad." Oliver supplied feelingly.

"It doesn't matter what age you are or how the question is phrased, it's always bad unless you enjoy talking about that stuff." Bruce remarked emphatically.

"I don't relish it but I'll make the effort with a woman I really like, as long as she doesn't expect it often." Bart put in with a shrug.

"How often is too often?" Oliver asked curiously.

"More than once." He returned with a half smile.

Bruce sipped his beer and shrugged "Well I'm not into the touchy feely stuff, and never have been. If I like a woman I make sure she knows it, I did the same with girls when I was a kid, but I've never seen the need to discuss every emotion that I'm feeling and that's never going to change."

Clark pursed his lips and admitted "I didn't mind it when I was a kid as long as the girl was Lana. I kept hoping the reason she brought those conversations up was because she was going to stop being a tease and start being my girlfriend. I can't say that I enjoyed them, but I always kept the end goal in mind."

"I've never liked a tease." Victor put in flatly.

"Who does?" Clark agreed readily "But don't forget that I was an inexperienced adolescent with more than the usual teenage hang-ups, plus a monstrous crush on her as well. That's not a recipe for sound or wise judgement."

"Ah yes, the callowness of youth; thank god those days are behind us." Bruce lifted his beer in salute, and all the men lifted theirs in turn.

"I was also really horny." Clark grinned big and wide.

"And that hasn't changed." Bart grinned in return and tapped their bottles together.

"Ah yes, the eagerness for sex that even age hasn't diminished; thank god it's still with us." Oliver lifted his beer in respect, and once again the men followed suit.

"And may it ever be so." Clark put in and for the third time all bottles were raised in homage.

After taking a dip of his drink, AC titled his head and asked curiously "Ok so getting back on track; what about Lex? He was a friend of yours back then and I know that he questioned you about stuff."

"Yeah, but his questions were mostly based around his suspicions on how I survived when he rammed his car into me. At the time I resented it, but considering that I was far more suspicious about people, including some of you for far less reason then I can't hold that against him." Clark looked at those he was speaking about and they all nodded in turn "Unlike now, back then Lex was a lot of things and not all of them were bad, but one thing I will say in his favour is that even though his questions sometimes put the fear of god into me, at least they weren't about my _feelings_." He finished mockingly.

"And I bet when it was that you were the instigator of the conversation, right?" Oliver sniggered lightly.

"Shut up or I'll set the dog onto you again." Clark retorted swiftly.

Oliver quickly mimed zipping his lip and throwing away the key causing all to sneer.

Figuring they'd relaxed Clark enough by indulging in general conversation, Bruce decided it was time to begin the grilling "So how's your summer romance going?" He asked cordially.

"Good." He answered simply.

"And the lady?"

"What about her?"

As this was just the opening he'd been waiting for, Oliver lifted his brows in query "Is it the same Lois that AC and I both dated previously?"

"That was a long time ago, and AC didn't even date her for a week." Clark reminded them firmly.

"I still dated her." AC smiled cheerfully.

"So it is her then." Oliver rubbed his chin in contemplation "How is she?"

"She's good."

"And you're still seeing only her, no one else?" Victor enquired casually.

"Yes." He replied and took a sip of his drink.

"You're not getting...bored?" AC asked cautiously.

"Bored with Lois?" Clark stared at him stupefied "Don't you even remember what she was like? Lois couldn't be boring if she tried. She's..."

"What?"

"I don't know but she's unlike anyone I've ever met." He smiled slightly while looking down at the bottle he was twirling, and missed the looks flying between his friends "She's not a person you can pigeon hole, but words like predictable, commonplace and humdrum could never be associated with her."

"Has she asked you how much you like her?" Bart asked tongue in cheek.

"No thank god! I can honestly say that Lois isn't conventional, but I do like her." He glanced at all and smilingly shrugged "I like spending time with her and I'm not talking about sex."

"So do you only like her, or do you like her like her." Victor teased slyly.

"I like her like her." He laughed lightly in return.

"It sounds like you're falling fast buddy." Bruce smiled placidly.

"What! I said that I like her Bruce, but don't get carried away, I like a lot of people." Clark swiftly back pedalled.

"Sorry, I jumped the gun." He apologised just as fast

"Yeah you did." Bart pronounced sharply "I like a lot of people too Bruce. Hell I'll even say that I love my dog, are you going to accuse me of falling for her next?"

"Oh for god's sakes Bart you can't put Lois in the same category as a dog." Clark rebuked hotly "Bruce didn't mean anything by it, so you don't have to be so damned sarcastic to him."

Bart immediately bit his lip in a show of penitence "I guess we both spoke without thinking." He turned to his friend and shrugged apologetically "I'm sorry for jumping on you Bruce."

He nodded silently but had to take a moment to ensure no hint of laughter came out in his voice "That's ok, I wasn't any better. Clark's made it abundantly clear that he's not interested in settling down with one woman, so I shouldn't have assumed anything's changed. More than likely you'll be glad to see the back of Lois before the end of summer huh?" At the lack of response, he nodded in agreement "Well at least you won't have to worry about her clinging to you or inventing schemes to put a ring through your nose..."

"Lois wouldn't do that anyway." Clark cut in stiffly.

"Right, besides she'll be far too busy making plans to leave." At his friends startled face Bruce shrugged lazily "Well you said this was only a summer fling, so unless Lois is planning to frog march you down the aisle, she doesn't have time to hatch plots of wedding bells since she'll be gone in 6 weeks or so."

"What are you talking about; summer's only just starting." Clark zeroed in on what to him was the most important.

"Not according to the calendar." AC observed blandly.

Clark's brow wrinkled.

"Yeah it's actually half way over already." Victor sighed heavily "The days are slipping by so quickly that it's hard to keep track."

Clark frowned harder.

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek at the sight of his friend's gloomy face "Just think buddy in 6 weeks time Lois will be gone..."

"Bruce said 6 weeks or SO." Clark corrected speedily "And the 'so' means that it's not 6 weeks at all. In fact I'm sure that it's closer to 8 weeks, maybe even more."

"No more than 7 tops." Bruce pronounced stolidly "But in point of fact the 'so' means that it's 6 weeks and a few days change, not that it's 6 weeks and a couple more on top of it."

Clark's mouth opened and closed without comment.

Oliver took up the thread and continued blithely "So as I was saying, pretty soon Lois will be gone and you'll be back playing those footloose bachelor games you enjoy so much."

"It's not pretty soon Oliver, Bruce said 7 weeks and that's still a long way away." Clark replied shortly.

"Not really Clark, it's less than 2 months away." AC contradicted smoothly.

"A lot can happen in two months." He replied defensively.

"Less than two months." Victor reminded him gently.

"And just think how fast that will fly by when the first half of summer is already gone." Bart put the boot in cheerily.

"That's true." Bruce chimed in pleasantly "Just think Clark, autumn is only around the corner and you'll be back to being solo once again just like the rest of us." He finished heartily and slapped his friend companionably on the back for good measure.

"Yeah well I'm really looking forward to it." He growled angrily "I'm looking forward to it a lot. In fact I'm looking forward to it so damn much, that words can't even express how much I'm looking forward to it."

The men bit the inside of their cheeks and nodded silently.

"Well if you're looking forward to it that much then why don't you start giving Lois the brush off now?" Bruce asked politely. When Clark' eyes swung to him, he smiled amiably "I'm happy to assist you. I know a couple of clubs where there are plenty of very attractive women to catch a man's eye, and trust me, a man would have to be dead to not fancy at least a few of them."

Clark just stared but couldn't think of anything to say.

Seeing the stumped expression on his friends face, Oliver bit back a chuckle and interjected sharply "Bruce you're not his only friend, I'll be happy to help him out too you know."

"Sorry Ollie I was only..."

"I know, but since Clark has helped us all with advice on how to dispose of some unwanted female in the past, and he's also been a real friend by cheering us up with a few drinks when we've been dumped by someone we liked, then I think we should all pitch in now and help him in return; right guys?"

The men looked at each other, nodded firmly in agreement and emphatically chorused "Yes."

Ignoring Clark whose head was shaking back and forth, Oliver smiled at them all proudly "Right, so let's take Bruce's suggestion and build on it. We haven't been out together for a night on the tiles in ages, so how about we all go out this weekend; who's free?"

All the men waved their hand except for the one being discussed.

Clark continued to shake his head in refusal "I appreciate it guys but..."

"Clark, Lois is sure to get the message the two of you are through if you're otherwise unavailable. It's actually a kind way of telling her things are over, without worrying that she'll subject you to any embarrassing awkward scenes." Bart interrupted gently "You've given all of us that advice at some point. Remember when I wanted to dump..." His brow furrowed in thought "I can't remember her name, can you?" When Clark's mouth opened he waved one hand "It doesn't matter, I took your advice and it worked beautifully."

"Firstly I don't remember her name and I don't care either." Clark countered bluntly "Secondly, I'm sure that I wouldn't give anyone such atrocious advice..." When all their mouth's opened in rebuttal, he barrelled on determined not to give anyone the opportunity of reminding him "...and thirdly it wouldn't work on Lois anyway because she's not the kind of woman who'd give a damn if she made a scene in public or not. As a matter of fact I think she'd enjoy making sure everyone knows that I've behaved like a heartless prick."

Oliver quickly jumped in to the breach "Oh yeah, from what I remember of Lois she'll give him hell and she won't care who's around to witness it, but what man wants to put himself through that?" He looked at all present bar one and they grimaced in accord. Making a face in return, he shivered dramatically before turning to the man of the hour "Have you told her about your powers?" Having a bad idea where this was going, Clark reluctantly shook his head. With a bright smile Oliver continued "Well then it's the easiest thing in the world for you to get away from Lois. All you have to do is keep an eye or ear out for her, and when you know she's coming just zoom away. She won't bother saying anything if you're not there because one thing is for sure, Lois will want you there when she publically humiliates you, but how can she do that if you're never around to hear it."

"That's true Clark. If Lois is frustrated by your lack of presence, then she'll be too busy calling you filthy names in her head, to waste time calling you up to find out what's wrong." AC advised staunchly.

"Or calling you ever again for that matter." Victor summed up candidly.

Clark's eyes flew between them like a rat caught in a trap, while his head automatically bobbed up and down "Yeah I know but I can't go out this weekend..."

"Why?" Oliver asked forthright.

"Why?" He hunted for an answer swiftly discarding one excuse then another. Shit! How could he get out of this? He didn't want them to think he was shackled because he wasn't. It was just that at the moment he didn't have any desire to be with another woman, but he couldn't very tell them that because then they would think he was ensnared. But he also had no intention of giving Lois any excuses for throwing him over, and she bloody well would if he went out on the prowl just to shut the guys up even if he didn't do anything, and...

His mind continued to race furiously before he finally burst out "Well the farm is really busy this time of year so..."

"Not at night time." Bruce slid in smoothly

"...and also since the summer romance was my idea in the first place, if I back out on Lois now then I won't be keeping up my end of the bargain, and no one likes a welsher." He finished in desperation.

Oliver sighed heavily in agreement before looking at the men "He's right guys, it's the only honourable thing to do."

The men nodded in accord.

"You're a good guy Clark, and it's really lucky that you like Lois because it'd be pretty awful otherwise." Bruce smiled sympathetically.

He smiled uneasily.

"Yeah but it won't be for long, and since he can't wait to be free then I'm sure he'll feel like partying the minute she's gone." Bart happily pointed out.

"Then let's help our good buddy party in style." Bruce perked instantly "Who's in for a kick ass blast the first weekend in September when Clark is Lois-less once again?"

"Me." All yelled eagerly.

Feeling the need to get far away from his friends, Clark swiftly picked up Attila and ignoring the dog's growl stuffed him, toy and all into one pocket before surging to his feet "I have to go, I've got things to do on the farm."

"I thought you said today was a free day?" AC asked in mock disappointment.

"It is but Lois will be round to pick up Attila soon so I..."

"Hey that's another way to be free if you really can't wait. Just treat Attila badly and Lois will never forgive you for it. She'll dump your ass in double quick time." Victor advised helpfully.

Clark quickly looked down and scratched the dog's head softly "Are you ok boy?"

The men almost choked in laughter, called out shaky goodbyes when he zipped off with a backward wave, and began to roar once assured he was gone. When the laughter calmed down they took stock.

"He has absolutely no idea." Bart shook his head incredulously.

"None, he's fighting against it and doesn't even realise he's doing it." Victor pronounced sadly.

"Well I'm not surprised that Clark's bowled over." Oliver chuckled lightly "I fell for Lois at first sight, and had to con her into our first date."

"Me too, except I didn't have to con her into dating me." AC smiled gloatingly.

"It was only for our first date, after that there was no persuasion needed." He returned bluntly.

"Well it didn't take me any persuasion at all, my natural charm was enough."

"You barely dated her."

"It still counts."

"And now it's Clark's turn to fall for the lady." Bruce talked loudly over the two of them.

Getting back to the matter at hand Oliver grinned "Seems like..."

"Maybe I should check this Lois out, and see if the Allen magic will work on her." Bart wiggled his brows playfully.

Victor's brow winged up in query "Where should I send the flowers?"

"What flowers?"

"The ones for your casket after Clark finds out you're thinking of playing footsie with his girlfriend."

Bart cleared his throat noisily "So moving right along, I couldn't believe his excuse of not wanting to break up with her now, even though words can't describe how much he's looking forward to being single once again."

"You mean his speech about how the summer fling was his idea, so now he feels that he HAS to stick it out to the bitter end." Victor asked dryly.

Bruce held up his fingers less than a centimetre apart "I was this close to saying 'wow Clark, how poetic. That's almost how I describe wrapping up a business deal.'."

"Me too" Oliver shook his head amused "That had to be the biggest load of crap I've heard in my life."

AC looked at the men and asked concerned "Do you think we were too mean?"

"Nope, I'd just say that we've given him something to think about." Bruce shrugged lazily.

Oliver nodded in agreement "Precisely. From his last visit we already knew he was falling for Lois even though he didn't say as much, but this time he admitted that he likes her..."

"He likes her likes her." Victor corrected with a swift grin.

"Right..." Oliver grinned in return "But since he still wasn't ready to admit it was more than that, all we've done is given him a nudge in the right direction."

"We're just helping our friend to see the light before it's too late, and having some fun at his expense in the process." Bart finished serenely.

"Well ok then." AC smiled in relief then added seriously "But next time let's not make the dog angry ok?"

All nodded soberly at that request.

oOo

Clark set the dog down on the kitchen floor and before it could begin barking whipped out the soft toy from his pocket; grateful when the mutt began to chew and wrestle with the thing. Stepping carefully around the beast, he walked over to the wall and looked at the calendar.

After counting the days once, he did it again carefully and frowned "It is only 7 weeks. In fact going by the today's date it's exactly 7 weeks and two days until August the thirty first."

Thinking he was being addressed Attila looked up, but when Clark just stepped around him, he gave the doggy equivalent of a shrug and went back to his toy.

After filling the kettle, Clark set it on the stove and rested back against the sink "Well that's ok, I was just caught off guard earlier because I didn't realise how quickly time was flying by, but now that I do well...well who cares? I don't care." He shrugged and sighed gloomily "I don't care at all. The minute Lois is gone I'll be out on the prowl with the guys..." When the kettle shrilled he trod over and pulled it off the stove "...it'll be fun."

oOo

At the knock, Clark pulled open the door to find Lois on the other side "Hi."

"Hi..." Stepping aside he waved her in, then smiled lopsided when she immediately got down on her knees "How are you boy?" Attila waved his tail and limped over to her.

Lois frowned and looked up in question "Is he limping more than when I dropped him off earlier?"

"It doesn't look like it to me." When the animal climbed into her lap and whined, Clark silently groaned "He's just putting it on because you're here, but a few minutes ago he was happily chewing on his toy."

Lois nodded slowly but her brow wrinkled in concern.

"He's just missed you is all." Clark told her in desperation.

Lois got to her feet and crooned softly to the mutt "Well I'm back now boy, so how about I take you home, put some more ointment on your sores, and you can spend the rest of the day resting your paw ok?"

The dog whimpered and rubbed his head against her chest.

Seeing her worried face, Clark couldn't take it anymore and confessed apologetically "He was jumping up and down barking at my friends. I rubbed his paw afterwards, and honestly he seemed fine but he did do a lot of running and jumping."

Her lips twitched in response "Why didn't you just tell me that?"

He rubbed the back of his neck before admitting reluctantly "Because I didn't want you think that I'd been cruel to him, and hereafter have nothing more to do with me."

Letting out a small gurgle of laughter she shook her head "Clark, even though you quite often refer to Attila as the little shit, I know that you like him." When his mouth opened she pressed a finger against his lips "I've seen you sneak him treats when you think I'm not looking." He shrugged weakly in response. Grinning Lois continued "Dog's run and jump that's part of their nature, you know that. So although I'd like for him to rest his paw, I doubt that he will."

After taking the mutt out of her arms and placing it carefully on the ground, Clark slipped his arms around her waist "So you're not pissed at me?"

"Of course not; I'm grateful that you looked after him while I was having lunch with the ladies." She replied and patted his shoulder.

"You should be grateful since I consider the little fur-ball a pest." He pronounced bluntly.

"Sure you do." Lois replied confidently and not giving him time to reply, continued "I've also noticed that any contrition you were feeling is already a thing of the past."

"Well since you're smart enough not to blame me for the Attila's paw being sore, then why should I continue to beat myself up about it?" He smiled smugly before quickly tacking on "It's your fault that's he's hurt."

"What?" She laughed astounded.

"You should have told him to be a good boy before leaving him with me."

Lois just shook her head unable to think of what to say back.

Seeing that she was stymied for a reply, Clark bent his head and whispered sweetly "Want me to kiss you? It'll make you feel better about yourself and take all that horrible guilt away?"

She burst out laughing and pushed slightly against his chest "Thanks but I'll pass. For now I'm going to take Attila home and put some ointment on his sores." She bent to pick up the animal and turned to Clark with a grin "I'll see you later."

"Yeah; oh hang on Lo I've gotta pack up his things."

"Don't worry about it; as he'll be coming with me when I come over here I'll just stop in town on the way home and buy him another couple of bowls and more kibble, rather than lugging everything back and forth all the time."

Clark nodded before bending down to pick up the soggy stuffed toy the dog loved with two fingertips "You'd better take his giant flea."

Lois' mouth distorted "Give it to him."

He held it out and Attila happily closed his jaws around one of the many arms dangling from it.

"Rather than carting that dog slobbered disgusting thing back and forth, you might want to get another one of those too."

"I will." She promised faithfully.

After quickly wiping his fingers on the seat of his jeans, Clark pulled open the door and followed Lois down to the car "Do you realise that summer's half way over already?" He asked casually.

"I know; it'll be Christmas before we know it."

"That's still months away."

"Yeah but look how fast the years gone by already." She countered without missing a beat "We're nearly half way through July, so August is only around the corner and then..."

"And that's all in the future so there's no point in talking about it now." Clark broke in rigidly.

Taken aback at the inflexible tone in is voice, Lois stared in puzzlement "What's with you?"

"Nothing, but I still have a lot of work to do on the farm before the end of summer, so I don't even want to think about how much time I don't have left." He grumbled shortly.

"Ok." Shrugging internally she opened the passenger door, placed Attila on the seat then turned to Clark "So does that mean you're too busy to come for dinner tonight?"

"Nope, I'll be there." Leaning forward he brushed his lips against hers and watched as she climbed behind the wheel and drove away.

When they were gone Clark looked around and noticed how quiet the farm was. There was no feminie voice raised in either laughter or chatter to break the silence, no dog getting under his feet or yapping at him, there was nothing but stillness. He was used to that. He mostly lived at the farm by himself since his mom was away more often than not, and he'd long since gotten used to her absences but he'd gotten to like having Lois and her mutt around.

Shaking his head he walked over to the front field and rested his arms on the fence.

Well he'd soon have to get used to them not being around. In 7 weeks Lois would be gone and he'd be back to where he started; single. That was alright, as Oliver pointed our earlier, he loved his bachelor lifestyle. Admittedly he liked being part of a couple with Lois but that was only because he'd known from the outset their relationship had a time limit; any longer than a few months and he'd be climbing the walls looking for a way out. This way he was getting all the comforts of a relationship for a few months, but with none of the burdensome emotions that usually accompanied them.

He'd be single again but he wouldn't be alone or lonely. There were plenty of women out there looking for a little light hearted romancing, and when Lois left he'd happily find them and supply it.

Of course for all he knew Lois might decide to extend her holiday. She'd made a number of friends in town and might not be inclined to give them up at the end of August. Also Smallville was where Attila felt most at home since this was where he was dumped, and Lois was fiercely protective of the little shit. If she just yanked him away from where he felt most comfortable and dumped him into a big city like San Francisco she could traumatise him for years, and the poor little fellow had already had enough upset in his life. Maybe he'd better warn her about that.

Well he'd better call Bruce to ensure the guys didn't make any plans that included him. After all if Lois did decide to stick around then he was going to be stuck with her, and his friends would understand that he could never be so crass as to give her the flick, or start playing the field right under her nose just because summer was over. Hmmm, maybe he'd better call Oliver as well just to further ensure his message didn't get lost in translation somewhere. Bruce could misinterpret it, and there was nothing more inconvenient than having to explain yourself because of a miscommunication.

Well so much for only having 7 weeks left. If Lois stayed then he'd be forced to put up with her for as much as 14 or 21, no, make that 28 weeks. In that case he'd better tell the guys that if they wanted to hit a few clubs and scope out the available talent to go right ahead, but not to include him since he didn't know what Lois was going to be doing from one day to the next.

Humming happily he pulled out his phone, clicked through the names and after pressing automatic dial waited for the line to be picked up.

As soon as he heard his friend's voice he got straight to the point "Hey Oliver it's me Clark. Listen about those plans you guys were making for us all to party in September, well you'd better put a hold on them or have it without me."

"Why?" Oliver asked amused.

He sighed heavily "Lois is thinking of extending her holiday. You know what women are like when it comes to changing their minds."

Oliver coughed and rolled his eyes "But if she decides not to stay th..."

"I'm sure that she will." He interrupted abruptly "So anyway..."

Clark expounded a bit more to ensure Oliver understood his dilemma, and after chatting for a few more minutes said goodbye then scrolled through the names of his phone, found Bruce's and likewise called him.

oOo

_Later that night_

Laughing out loud at the conclusion of the Golden Girls, Lois got up from the couch to get a glass of iced tea, and returned to stop on the threshold of the kitchen and lounge room to eye her dog fast asleep on his lounger. The mutt had worn himself out today. First he'd spent his time running around while Clark was looking after him, then she'd no sooner gotten him home before he was sniffing every centimetre of the house determined to ensure no one had intruded on his territory in his absence. After that he'd spent his time productively by chewing and attacking his toys until Clark walked in the door. Then of course his toys were abandoned in favour of doing his usual growling, greeting and jumping around Clark before collapsing in a satisfied heap after dinner. He really was a little shit at times, but he was hers and she loved him.

Getting comfortable on the couch again eager for the next episode she wondered absently which one of these women she was going to be like when she was older. It was hard to imagine because she already had a little bit of all of them in her character; Dorothy's pragmatic nature, not to mention her sarcasm. Sophia's candid honesty, Blanche's comfortableness with her sexuality and even a little bit of Rose; who for all her naiveté had a ruthless streak when it came to winning, and a snarky side which was rarely seen but there all the same.

By the time she got to their age years would have passed between then and now; years and years and years. By then this summer with Clark would only be a faint memory at best. The time seemed to be slipping by so fast. She'd known it already but when he'd mentioned it earlier she didn't know if he was trying to give her a hint that their time together was half way up, or if he was just making conversation.

He was enjoying their time together she was sure of that, but she was also well aware that some men tended to think that a little bit of her, went a long way.

As the music began she turned her attention back to the TV screen, sang along to opening song but found it hard to get into the show again. After the episode was over she switched off the TV unsurprised when Attila woke up to yawn and stretch before following her to the bedroom. He stepped into his doggy bed, circled once, again and a third time before snuggling down and going back to sleep. Likewise crawling into bed once her nightly regime had been completed, Lois closed her eyes and Clark's face was there.

She was going to miss him. Usually when a relationship was over she looked ahead to the future, she didn't look back, but she had a feeling that she was going to be remembering this summer with Clark a lot.

Well and so what if she did? Sometimes looking back was the way forward, and there was nothing wrong with recalling happier days when times were blah.

She had Attila, her friends and family, that was all the commitment she needed. Clark was just another man when it came right down to it, and men were plenty for when she wanted companionship for a few hours. So she'd miss him big deal. In a few years time she wouldn't even remember what he looked like. No doubt in a few years time he'd be married to miss cutie pie cow pattie of Smallville. Well more power to him.

At the thought of him married to some vulgar bossy female, her lips tilted up in glee. Humming the funeral march under her breath, Lois chuckled softly while picturing Clark walking slowly to the altar. There waiting for him was miss cutie pie cow pattie wearing a black mask over her head, in a hideous wedding dress that had a huge sunflower at the hip, and a thick yellow sash around the waist with a big bow at the back, and behind her was a nice new shining guillotine. Suddenly feeling immeasurably better, she yawned and slipped into sleep with the funeral march still resonating softly through her mind.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's much appreciated. Here is the next chapter at last, I hope you all like it.

Linda

oOo

**20****th**** July**

Clark pulled into the driveway, saw Lois standing on the front porch waving at him and waved back cheerfully. He climbed out of the truck, and opened his mouth to make a cheeky remark about her impatience to see him when he realised that she wasn't waving 'hello', she was waving 'get over here; now!'

Racing up the stairs, he came to a stop in front of her "What's wrong, has something happened?"

"Shhhh." Grabbing his arm, she tugged him inside the house and closed the front door quietly "Keep your voice down, Attila's out in the back yard happily sunbathing..."

"So?" He broke in confused.

"So if he hears your voice then he's going to be barking at the back door to come in."

"So?" He asked again.

"So..." Lois parroted and wondered if he was purposely being obtuse. Grabbing his shirt front she pulled him down and whispered fiercely "So he'll want to come in and greet you in his own special way."

"You mean so that he can snarl at me and get underfoot." Clark bluntly stated.

"Right; but if he doesn't even know you're here yet then..." She trailed off suggestively and opened her eyes wide.

Finally catching on, he hooked his arms around her waist and began walking her backwards down the hall "Then we can make up for the last two days when he wouldn't leave us alone."

"Yep, yep, yep." She murmured breathlessly and began unbuttoning his shirt.

"You want me, you want me." He tauntingly sang.

Instead of taking the bait she freely agreed "Yeah I do. Between you being busy in the morning, and Attila being clingy at night I've been feeling neglected." She peeled open the shirt but rather than wasting time yanking it off, she began attacking his belt instead.

"Wow you are eager, and I'd like to make it up to you Lo but..." He came to a stop, tugged her hands away from his belt and held them firmly in his "...I don't feel like having sex right this minute." At her disappointed and disbelieving frown, he frowned in return "I did but you're making me feel so cheap."

Seeing the laughter in his eyes, she sighed in relief and crossing her heart promised gravely "I swear by the time I'm done, you'll feel really used as well."

Looking forward to that immensely, he chortled out loud and took her laughing lips with his. Once again they began their stumbling course to the bedroom, her hands fumbling with the zipper of his jeans, his stroking over her back, bottom and thighs as their mouths continued to attack each others.

When they ran into the bathroom doorway, mouths broke apart, eyes locked for a beat, then she jumped up, he caught her and ran.

Upon reaching the bedroom, Clark tried to peel Lois off but her legs clinched tighter around his waist, while her lips and tongue played over his earlobe "You have to let go."

She grunted but otherwise made no response. The combination of her hot breath in his ear, her nipples stabbing against his chest, and the scent of her arousal made his eyes cross "Baby this is going to be over before we begin if you don't let go."

In response her nails raked down his back, her arms and legs clamped tighter around him, and her mouth latched onto his shoulder. Using super-strength he tugged her off, and stood her on her feet then held out his arms to ward her off when she looked ready to leap at him again "Just give me a minute."

"You have 10 seconds." She threatened and began counting out loud.

Hurriedly sitting on the bed he began to tug of his boots, but stopped to point when Lois grasped the bottom of her nightdress "Don't take that off, I wanna do it."

"5 seconds." She replied dropping her hands, only to wave them at him impatiently "Will you hurry up and get naked already?"

Grinning like a champ, he tugged off his shirt, boots and socks then fell back on the mattress and held out his arms "Come and get me."

Seeing him lying there shirtless, jeans unzipped with the top button undone and barefoot he looked absolutely smoking, and caused the fever in her to shoot up another notch. Licking her lips like a kid in a candy store, Lois grinned and leapt on top.

He caught her around the waist, swung her around and under him, laughing when she began attacking his neck with her teeth. Grasping a fistful of hair he peeled her head back and crushed her mouth under his. Tongues stabbed, thrust and fought. Fingertips pressed, teeth bit, mouths sucked. Becoming impatient Lois pushed and tugged his jeans and briefs down, grunting in exasperation when they wouldn't move out of the way fast enough.

"Hell Lo don't damage the merchandise." Clark growled and brushing her hands aside, lifted his hips and pushed them down himself.

Crowing with delight when his erection sprang free, she quickly straddled him then snarled in frustration "What's wrong now?"

"You've still got your panties on." He groaned, and swore colourfully in his head at the feeling of her wetness against his shaft.

"Well get them off."

When she rocked herself against him, he bucked up and cursed out loud "Fuck Lois, stop moving; please!" He pleadingly gritted out.

"Get them off." She growled and deliberately pressed down to rub herself against him again.

"You need to get up."

"Just tear the damn things off." Placing her hands on his chest for balance, she lifted up slightly "Hurry up!"

Quickly grasping the edges, he tore the panties in half but didn't have time to wave them high in victory before Lois sank down impaling herself onto to him, mewling at having him inside her at last.

Deciding to just lie back and enjoy being ridden, Clark relished the sight of her breasts swaying above him through the semi-transparent nightdress. Wanting more he smoothed the material above her breasts, cupped the globes and lifting them up and together to deepen the cleavage silently wondered just who loved him enough to give him such a glorious gift. His thumbs rubbed back and forth over the tips, while his fingers clenched around the softness.

Unable to get the stimulation she needed Lois growled, slammed her hands onto his knees from behind and curling her back continued lifting and lowering herself onto him. Rocking and swirling her loins hard against his.

At the small her whimper his eyes flew upwards and seeing the distress on her face, knowing that she was losing it and determined that she wouldn't, he released her breasts, clamped his hands onto her bottom, and pushed up hard into her grinding their groins together. A snarl ripped out of her throat then demands shrieked at a piercing decibel. Sitting up quickly he clamped his mouth onto the join of her shoulder and neck to bite and suck, dug his fingers deep into the bedding for extra leverage, and drove his hips upwards in a rapid fire motion to hammer, stab and plunge his penis in and out of her channel.

It still wasn't enough; she could feel it, see it, but it was just out of reach. Almost sobbing with need she grasped a fistful of his hair, pulled his head back and locked their mouths together plunging her tongue inside. The kiss was hard, bruising; moans and gasps swallowed by the other as tongues continued to parry, duel and plunder. Panting harshly Lois ripped her mouth free, pushed against his shoulders and when he was down, clenched her fingers against his chest and rocking shallowly onto his penis, rubbed her clitoris against his pubic bone, keening deep in her throat as the strong rush of pleasure and tension built within her.

Praying that Lois would find release before the control that he was holding onto by his fingernails deserted him, Clark ground down on his molars, ignored the fire in his belly to take what he wanted and licking his middle finger, gently caressed the kernel at the top of her sex.

"Oh, oh...hmmm, right there, yes, yes...oh..."

Feeling her vaginal muscles contract, and her passage becoming extremely wet, he continued to slide his finger over and around the hardened nub, flicked carefully at the tip then ran it down to the stem to the core and circled gently.

The heat in her body grew higher as her senses sharpened, focused, all sensation isolated around the bud of her clitoris until she felt like it was going to explode. Sobbing and begging she continued to rock lightly and finally attaining the sweet release that she'd been reaching for, she threw herself over the edge with a loud wail, and fell onto his chest as wave after wave of intense bliss shuddered through her body.

Feeling her muscles squeezing and milking his penis, Clark quickly flipped her underneath him, hiked her bottom of the bed, and pumping his hips drove his shaft in and out of her passage with ever increasing fury. After a few more quick hard thrusts, his fingers clenched and his back arched as the coiling tightness finally snapped. Crashing down onto her, his deep guttural groans likewise echoed around the room.

Hearts thundered in unison, harsh breaths tore out of their lungs.

Wondering if he was trying to squash her flat, Lois smacked Clark on the ass and gasped out "You weigh a ton."

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, is that all you can do?" He panted back before dragging himself off to lie at her side.

"I do it well, but it's far from my best talent." She breathed out heavily.

He grinned and pressed his face into the pillow "Who knows that better than me?"

She patted his arm in thanks, as both continued to drag in deep gulps of air, then smaller inhales while lying there feeling bruised, battered, drained and absolutely glorious.

When able to breathe properly, she turned her head and smiled salaciously "So just how used do you feel."

"Very, and I expect you to make me feel that way again." He grinned widely in return and leaning forward smacked a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm glad it came up to expectation." She replied cheekily.

"And then some." He affirmed smartly. Feeling strong enough to sit up, he pushed his jeans and briefs over his knees before kicking them off and flopping back down. Turning to her with laughter bright in his eyes he grinned at the proud smirk on her face "You know I've had women say some pretty interesting things to me in bed, but I don't believe anyone's ever yelled '_fuck me harder damn you'._" He finished on a guffaw and holding onto his stomach rocked with laughter.

Lois bit her lip in mortification, but a small snort escaped before she likewise began to scream.

When their laughter calmed, she wiped her eyes "We haven't had sex in 2 days and I was really really ready by the time you arrived."

"No kidding."

"Well you weren't exactly fighting me off. I'm pretty sure that if anyone wanted your fingerprints they could get them off my butt." She giggled softly.

Clark quickly checked said part of her anatomy and grinned hugely at seeing little red dots from where his fingertips had dug in. He smoothed a hand over the globes and wiggled his brows "If you get bruises, I'll be happy to kiss them all better."

"I always knew that one day you'd kiss my ass." She twinkled at him.

"You told me to do it often enough back in the day, but until this morning you never gave me a good enough reason to follow orders. From now on I'll cheerfully comply." He bent down and pressed his lips to her bottom before sending her a roguish smile "By the way, if anyone wants the matching set, they can get my teeth prints of your neck."

"Animal." She accused softly.

"I'm an animal?" He hooted derisively "The way you were attacking me, I felt like one of those male spiders who knows that directly after mating the female's going to turn around and start dining on their spent carcass." She simpered, he smirked back "But I got my own licks in first; you're going to have one hell of hickey later." He stroked his finger over the mark on her neck and secretly admitted that he liked seeing it there.

Lois patted his chest "Thanks, you were a good sport about my ah….."

"Your demented out of control desire for me." He put in straight faced.

Refraining herself from rolling her eyes, she simply nodded "Yeah."

Clark patted her arm in comfort "That's ok; I can totally empathise with the torment you must have felt not getting your hands on this for two days." He finished waving a hand over himself.

She snickered softly "Do you actually believe the crap that comes out of your mouth?"

He grinned quick and bright "Yep."

"Do you know how sad that is?"

"Nope."

Laughing out loud, she leant over and pressed her lips to his "Well you were a good sport about it, and more than made up for the last two days, so I'm just going to ignore all your BS and say thanks."

"I was, I did, you're welcome; and now that we've taken the edge off..." Clark left the sentence unfinished and leaning forward pressed his lips gently to hers. Cupping her jaw, his thumb rubbed softly urging her mouth to open and when it did his tongue slid smoothly inside to mesh and tangle with hers lazily. When his head lifted, eyes opened and smiled "We're going to take it slowly."

"But Attila..."

"Will be quite alright I'm sure." He told her candidly "You had your way, now it's my turn."

"I thought you enjoyed it?" She asked anxiously.

He looked at her like she was crazy "Don't be dense Lo of course I did, but I'd like an encore and I'd like us to get all our clothes off this time."

"Sorry." She apologised flustered.

"I'm not." She let out a gurgle of surprised laughter, he grinned back "I'm not sorry at all. I have the time of my life when I'm with you Lois."

She flushed in pleasure "Thank you."

"Well." His brow lifted politely.

"You want me to reciprocate huh?" When Clark nodded, she shook her head dismally "I really don't like to lie..." At his pout she reached up and ruffled his hair "...so I can say that I do with you as well."

Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, he smiled "This is turning out to be one hell of a summer."

"Yeah it is."

Leaning forward he pressed his lips gently against hers "Have I told you just how glad I am that you came back to Smallville?"

"Not in words, but let's just say that you've given me plenty of hints."

His lips crooked up at the corners "Then let me give you another one."

Nodding, Lois glided her fingers up his arm to his shoulder to nape of his neck and tugged, urging his mouth down to hers.

Lips moulded firmed and hardened as tongues danced slowly. Hands roved over hard masculine muscle and soft feminine curves. Legs entwined as they rolled slowly over the bed and back again as mouths continued to cling only parting long enough to change angles before locking together once more.

When she was almost gasping for breath, he reluctantly released her lips and nuzzled down to her jaw-line. Sitting up on his haunches, he slid the nightdress up and over her head, tossed it aside and swept his palms over her body from hips to waist to tummy then down to her thighs and up again to just under her breasts.

A soft purr fell from Lois' lips, her upper torso rose up slightly before falling back gently to mattress, as Clark's hands continued to brush up and down finally coming to a stop with his palms sitting over her breasts. Fanning his fingers over the mounds, he dragged them inwards, lightly pinching the nipples when his fingers met, and at her moan did it again and again before rolling his thumbs over and around the buds applying a little more pressure and a little more until the nipples were so hard they were almost inflexible.

Bending down he sucked gently at the fleshy underside of one breast, dragged his tongue softly over the tissue, licking all around the areola but avoided the nipple watching as it stiffened even further and the veins in her breast became more visible. Cupping the globe in his hand, his fingers contracted softly, and his thumb swept over the tip, before his teeth closed around it carefully to allow his tongue to bat at it with the gentlest of strokes. As is tongue, lips and teeth continued tormenting the bud, he clasped her other breast in his hand, pressing gently while brushing his fingertips over the tip to let it know that it hadn't been forgotten. Turning his attention to her other breast, his tongue laved, teeth raked, and mouth sucked at the fleshy underside, before closing over the tip.

Clark's mouth and hands were driving Lois out of her mind. The combination of soft stokes, gentle sucking and tongue skating were as heady as cheap wine that went straight to her head and made her feel otherwise. The quiet sounds of pleasure falling from his lips, his mouth moving to the other breast, while one hand stroked the globe he'd already stimulated, his other hand trailing up and down from waist to thigh and back again, were just further enticements to heed the siren call of her body. When his tongue skated into the valley and down to her tummy, Lois clenched her fingers into his hair and pressed her head hard into the pillow.

He swirled his tongue into her belly button, as his hands gently parted her legs. One hand trailed up to smooth low on her tummy, while the other trailed up to cup and squeeze her sex. Sighing softly in approval at her wetness, he pressed one finger inside then a second, lazily moving them in and out, rubbing lightly over the muscles and tissues of her inner walls, withdrawing his fingers to rub over the soft flesh outside before sinking into her passage once again as his mouth moved down.

He blew softly on her sex, felt her tiny betraying shiver, and blew softly once more. Knowing that she'd still be highly sensitive, he swept his thumb over the nubbin with the gentlest of strokes, heard her soft gasp, felt her fingers clench harder into his scalp, and watched his fingers moving in and out of her channel in a languid rhythm. Licking his lips, he spread his fingers outward to hold her carefully open, and bending forward swept his tongue from the bottom to top of her sex over and over, murmuring softly in approval when her moisture flowed forth coating his tongue.

Letting go of his hair, Lois raked her fingers through her own before reaching down to grasp one of his hands and holding it over her breast, squirming at the exquisite feeling of his mouth and hand on the most sensitive parts of her body.

"Enough Clark please."

Ignoring the shaky pleading in her voice, the trembling of her body, he hooked his arms over her thighs to hold her still and spread open, and raking his fingers softly through the tuft of curls on her mound in a soothing motion, his mouth pressed hard against her sex to brush his tongue lightly but insistently over the core.

Lois hissed as her body simultaneously squirmed and pushed down trying to escape. Tugging his hand from her breast, she brought it to her mouth and sucked on his fingers wondering how much more she could take. The feeling of his mouth on her, his hair brushing against her inner thighs, his hands on her...god she was going to go mad. The area between her legs felt heavy and swollen, her skin stretched too tight, her mouth dry as bone as erotic images flashed through her head.

"Please, oh please, oh please."

Clark looked up to find her staring blindly at the ceiling and swallowed hard at the wholly sensuous picture she presented. Lois was always beautiful, but in passion she was glorious. Her mouth was partly open while her tongue swirled over his fingers. Her breasts flushed deep pink in arousal rising and falling with jerky pants and her face...god her face sharp and tight with need.

Unable to wait any longer he slid up the bed, settled comfortably in the cradle of her thighs, and groaned out loud when her long silky legs automatically wrapped around his hips. Sealing his mouth to hers, he thrust forward and captured the soft gasp of relief that escaped her lips, and growled quietly in turn at the exquisite feeling her soft wet flesh parting then enclosing around his penis in a loving embrace.

Withdrawing almost completely to the tip, he pressed forward again to sink deep inside once more and began a slow moving pattern of advance and retreat in and out of her wet welcoming channel. Mouths stayed fastened as lips moulded and tongues danced lazily in a long slow waltz in time with the movement of their bodies.

Lois stroked her hands over his back, up to his hair, over the nape of his neck, down to his bottom and thighs, glorying in the feeling of being completely surrounded by his masculinity. His weight pressing her into the mattress, his scent, his mouth on hers, his taste, feeling him move deeply, steadily, deliberately inside her was so sublime that all she cared about, could think about was him.

Mouths parted to allow both to breathe deeply, his faced pressed hard into the side of her neck, her mouth bit gently into the meat of his shoulder.

Clark smoothed his hands up and down her thighs, up to her waist and down again, relishing in the sensation of her body under his. She smelt of sex, perfume, him and her own sweet scent. He loved having her under him, loved the feeling of taking her. Her belly brushing against his, her feet rubbing his calves, her breasts undulating against his chest, and her sweet hot passage welcoming him as their bodies merged, parted and merged again felt so good, so right.

Lifting up onto his forearms slightly, he brushed the hair away from her face before cupping her cheeks with his hands, and sealed their mouths together again as their bodies continued to dance to music only they could hear.

When release came it was quiet. Rolling them onto their sides he kept their bodies locked together as mouths continued to cling.

Lois smoothed one hand over his arm to his shoulder up the side of his throat to sit open palmed on the side of his jaw, relishing the feeling of his body sitting heavy and quiet inside her now that the dance had finished.

Clark kept one hand splayed in the small of her back, while the other glided up and down from waist to hip, basking in the feeling of her muscles and tissues softly rippling around his penis.

Lips barely lifted before coming back together, hands continued to caress. When he finally withdrew, separating his body from hers, both felt the loss.

Reluctantly lips parted and eyes opened to stare solemnly into each other's. They didn't speak, didn't blink. Slowly the rapture of the moment faded to be replaced by turbulence, then a growing awkwardness followed swiftly by fear. Neither moved for a full minute then simultaneously both sprang up and off on opposite sides of the bed. Lois swiftly dragged a robe on and holding it closed with one hand, thumbed towards the doorway with the other "You want a shower first?"

"Yeah, I'll be really quick." Scooting around the bed and past her, Clark sprinted for the bathroom and stood under the shower spray staring at the tiles. What the hell was that? They'd had some astounding sex in the past but that was...

Scrubbing his hands over his face, he shook his head. He didn't want to think about that. It was over, it was sex and now it was over. Grabbing the bar of soap, he swiftly showered and tossed around ideas for excuses that he could give for why he had to leave now; right now!

Unable to think of anything but determined to succeed, he returned to the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, and casually called out "it's all yours" then sank down heavily onto the bed the moment she was gone.

oOo

Lois paced the room in a fever of impatience for him to hurry up, but was so lost in thought that his call of 'it's all yours' made her jump. Flying past him into the bathroom, she shakily dispensed with the robe, stepped into the shower then stepped back out and pulled the door open fractionally "Um Clark, it's probably a bit late for breakfast so if you need to get on home I'll understand and see you later ok?"

He stayed seated on the side of the bed looking in the direction of her voice. He was tempted to agree, hell he'd been trying to think up reasons for having to leave but had come up blank. Lois was giving him an out. He could take it and run but didn't know if doing so would be the lesser of two evils. If he left now they'd feel even more awkward the next time they saw each other; which was supposed to be tonight. If he stayed they'd be uncomfortable as hell now, but the worst of it would be over by the time breakfast was finished.

"Clark?"

Realising she was waiting for a reply he scrubbed a hand through his hair and tried to think logically. Right now he'd rather be any place but here; check. If he stayed there'd be tension galore; check. But the worst of it would be over by the time he left, and then it could be put it behind them once and for all; check.

Ok, if he left then he'd just stew about it all day; check. So would Lois; check. He'd rather eat rat poison then go through this hideous crap again tonight; double check. Clearing his throat, he called out and hoped that he sounded laid back "No I'm good Lo. I came over a little bit earlier today since I'm due at Dean's place by 8 so I've still got a little time before I have to leave."

"Oh ok." She closed the door quietly, stepped into the shower again, turned on the water and stared at the tile.

Shit! Shit, shit, shit.

Why couldn't he just leave? She knew that he wanted to go as much as she wanted him gone, so why couldn't he just be a gentleman and get the hell out?

Pressing her fingers to her temples Lois blew out a shaky breath. The way he'd looked at her, touched her, the way he'd made her feel while they made love and afterwards. She'd seen it all before in her visions but experiencing it was entirely different. She'd written them off as glitches, a snafu in her brain, well so much for that. It seemed they were coming true just as they always did.

oOo

While eating breakfast both tried hard to behave naturally but the harder they tried the worse things became. Eyes met fleetingly then shifted. Hands reached for the carton of juice and were quickly pulled away. Requests for anything to be passed and then received were expressed with so many 'please, thank you's and you're welcomes' that both grew sick of the others socially polite behaviour and wished they'd just get what they wanted themselves, or keep quiet.

The tension in the room was palpable. Neither could stop from feeling agitated about what happened. Things had changed, they knew it, didn't want to acknowledge it, but couldn't discount it either.

Unable to stand the awkwardness any further, they gave up trying to make small talk with each other and instead turned their attention to the dog, who when called in for breakfast had clumped into the house peevishly after being excluded from all their earlier fun. However, the beast had no sooner entered the house then he sensed their discomfort. He'd given them both a wide berth for the first 20 minutes and was presently sitting by the kitchen door clearly in the hopes of scooting outside and away from them once more.

At Clark's first call Attila's ears twitched. At his second more coaxing call, the dog shambled to his side and took the bit of French toast that was held out.

The dog abandoned him to scooch under the table to take the piece of strawberry from Lois' hand, when she enticed him by smiling gently while calling him cute little names.

She had no sooner begun to pat the beast than Clark whistled and Attila shuffled back to take the piece of peach that was held out.

Lois called his name softly, the dog whined but returned to take the bit of bacon she had for him.

Clark bent down, picked up one of the toys from the floor and squeezed it. At the squeak Attila deserted her to get his toy and begin a game of tug.

"Here boy."

The dog's head swivelled between Lois's outstretched arms, and Clark who was still squeaking the toy. Unable to decide, he planted his rump on the ground and barked.

Feeling like a fool, Clark held up his hands in defeat "He's your dog."

Lois nodded triumphantly "Come on sweetie."

Puffing softly Attila dragged himself over to her, but had no sooner been picked up then he began to wiggle to be put down again.

Knowing the dog was picking up on her anxiety Lois tried to hold him tighter but when his twisting and whining became far too embarrassing to ignore, she let him go and watched as he returned to sit by the back door, and scratch on the screen.

"Breakfast was really nice, thanks." She smiled in Clark's general direction.

He nodded and shovelled in another mouthful of French toast, figuring that if his mouth was full he wouldn't have to try and make conversation.

Clearing her throat, she got to her feet, stepped over to the sink and filled it with warm soapy water then began clearing the table "I'll just start clearing away since I'm finished. I'm not really hungry today so I've had enough, but it was still nice and I really appreciate you making breakfast every day...not that I expect you too. I mean if you want to that's fine but if you don't want to then..." He nodded again, she coughed and waved her hand "Anyway, don't let me hurry you I'm just clearing up because I've finished, but you take your time and eat your breakfast."

Not giving him a chance to reply, she dumped her plate, knife and fork in the water, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and gave all her attention to cleaning the frying pan. God, this was awful, this was worse than the blind date from hell. At least with a blind date you can dump them, make an excuse to leave, anything but this. She scrubbed harder at the pan pretending to be deaf when Attila's desire to get away from them became even louder and more determined.

The dog began to bark, howl and scratch at the door begging to be let out. Feeling sorry for the animal but also wanting him there as a buffer between them; Clark tried to ignore the incessant whining. However, when Attila looked over his shoulder and let out a half plaintive growl, he couldn't take it anymore and pushing aside his own desire to keep the animal there, Clark rose and pushed open the screen door envying the dog's freedom and likewise wished that he could scamper away from the atmosphere in the kitchen.

oOo

_20 minutes later_

Figuring they'd both made the effort but feeling more than a little relieved that it was nearly over, Lois hurried Clark to the front door, he all but ran out of it calling "See you" over his shoulder and loped down the front steps to his truck.

_He was free! He was free; oh thank god_. Hopping behind the wheel, Clark switched on the ignition, backed out of the driveway and drove.

Well that was awful but it could have been worse. He didn't know how exactly but he was sure that it could have been. But at least tonight they'd be ok. Or would they? Hell more than likely tonight they'd sit there staring at each other just saying 'hello' back and forth for 10 minutes before each making up excuses for why he had to leave, and she didn't want company. Quickly pulling the truck over to the side of the road, Clark tapped his fingers on the wheel and stared out the windshield. There was no way they they'd feel comfortable with each other tonight. They'd be uneasy from the time he arrived to the minute he left.

If they didn't confront the situation head on now, they'd lose everything. He wasn't going to lose.

After a quick check of the rear-view mirror, he swung the wheel and headed back.

oOo

_Just wave bye bye now and dance a jig when he's out of sight_. Lois raised her arm and waved gaily. Once he was gone, she returned to the kitchen intending to finish clearing up but ended by standing at the sink doing nothing.

Well so much for that. She felt glad he was gone, and at the same time she was sorry. Could she have behaved anymore juvenile? All she needed to do now was call up one of the women and ask them to ask Clark if he still liked her. Hefting out a deep breath, she snatched the car keys off the hook and made her way to the front door. Maybe he hadn't gotten very far...

She stepped onto the front porch, saw Clark's truck in the driveway and stood stock still. He was back. Why was he back?

If he'd come back to warn her not to read too much into what happened, she'd restrain herself from kicking him, and instead kick him in the ego by telling him that she'd had better.

If he'd come back to dump her, then more power to him. She'd smile and take it the lady that she was. Then she'd make a life sized doll in his image and let Attila chew on it for a while before sticking pins in it; thick, sharp, long pins.

Quickly tossing the car keys over the railing and into the flower bed below, she waited in a fever of impatience for what he was going to do.

oOo

When Lois stepped onto the porch, Clark first saw the surprise on her face at finding him there, and then noted the way her features darkened a moment later. She clearly wasn't expecting him back so soon, and by her face wasn't happy that he'd returned, but he was damned if he was going to leave before having his say. He'd behaved like an ass, but she'd been no better and he was going to point that out whether she liked it or not.

Climbing out of his truck, he made his way up the stairs and stopped in front of her "We're being stupid."

At his words, a feeling of acute embarrassment followed swiftly by immense relief washed through her, and caused her shoulders to sag "Thank you."

Hearing the heartfelt gratitude in her voice he grinned, she grinned in return then both laughed at themselves.

"I haven't been this uncomfortable with the opposite sex since I kissed a girl for the first time when I was 14, and hoped that I was doing it right."

Lois snickered but bobbed her in accord "Oh god, that first kiss. Do you remember how terrifying it was?"

"Yep, I felt clumsy, awkward and jittery but I wasn't going to let that stop me. I just hoped that she wouldn't run screaming in the opposite direction."

"Well if the girl you kissed felt like I did at that age, then I can tell you that she wanted the kiss, she was just nervous too."

"That's good to know, because I remember when I touched my puckered up lips to her puckered ones, it was the biggest thrill of my life." He grinned in remembrance.

"The first time a boy touched my breast I didn't know whether I was gasping in fear, outrage or excitement." She confessed with a soft giggle.

Clark shouted in laughter before assuring her solemnly "It was exciting for him."

Her lips lifted in a half smile "I kinda got that impression from his reaction."

"Yeah." He bobbed his head, then took a deep breath and asked simply "Do you regret what happened earlier?"

Not pretending to misunderstand what he was talking about she shook her head "No, it was just unexpected."

"Yeah it was, but why do we always rush?" Clark asked quietly, and lifted his hand to brush fingertips over her cheek.

Lois half shook her head unsure of what to say "Not always."

"No not always, but now it feels like it." He amended steadily "I think we've been missing out"

"We haven't missed too much." She replied lightly.

"Yes we have." He countered and linked his fingers with hers "Even counting the times when we haven't dashed towards the finishing line, it was different Lo; and I mean different in a good way."

She swallowed hard but nodded minutely.

"We've had bawdier, more erotic and even risqué times; hell our first go round this morning was like that, but there have been plenty of times when we've taken it slow and yet it still hasn't been like that. For the first time it felt like it was more than just sex which is why we both felt uneasy about it afterwards." He finished quietly and tried to ignore the unsettled emotions still roiling within that he could see in her eyes.

"Yeah..." She agreed softly "...but the only reason it felt like more is probably because we've gotten comfortable with each other." She finished and hoped that she was right.

Clark nodded and hoped she was right. Blowing out a soft breath he kept his eyes steady on hers "Ok, well I don't want to lose our fun times, but I'd like to keep this aspect of our relationship too."

"So would I, it was..." She broke off and shrugged

"Yeah." He agreed and leaning down pressed his lips against hers to seal the deal then quickly lifted his head "But just remember that you have an open invitation to jump my bones for a quickie at any time of the day or night."

She smiled and slapped his shoulder "I'm sure you'll whip your clothes off before I even have the chance to say the word quickie."

"You bet." He chuckled lightly in response "So no more awkwardness about it; not now or in the future and never again in bed or afterwards, deal?"

"Yeah, besides I don't think Attila can take any more of our double attention." Lois chuckled softly.

Clark groaned "I know; we actually made the dog uncomfortable with our behaviour."

"What gave you that idea? When I picked him up and he wiggled to get out of my arms even though he usually loves it when I hold him. Or when I put him down and he sat beside the back door howling until you got up to let him out, even though he likes being around us especially at meal times?" She asked with a straight face.

Clark shook his head gloomily "I felt so sorry for the poor little shit."

"So did I, but I didn't want to let him go." She confessed embarrassed.

His face distorted and his head bobbed in accord "And I wanted him as a buffer between us so ignored his cries to get out and only gave in when he turned and looked at me with the most pathetic pleading face he's ever worn."

"I thought he reserved that look for me."

"He does. Normally all I get are growls, snarls and a curled lip, but you were ignoring him and he was so desperate that he turned to me." Clark confirmed sadly.

She snickered, so did he and then both began to roar with laughter. When their mirth died, they smiled at each other grateful the awkwardness they'd felt earlier had dissolved.

oOo

Clark drove home turning Lois' reasons over in his mind and came to the conclusion that she was right; it did make sense. They were comfortable with each other. They had become lovers and friends. They had spent so much time tearing up the sheets that they'd quickly learnt what brought the other the most pleasure in bed. Add to that the enjoyment he had in her company that he knew she shared, well it was only logical their sex life would change and adapt.

The reason he'd felt so disturbed was because it had been his idea for them to take it slow in the first place. But as they'd done that on plenty of occasions he hadn't expected today to be any different, so when it was he'd felt like taking to his heels and running for dear life. Thank goodness he hadn't.

Yeah breakfast had ended up being worse than he'd expected it to be, but he was still glad that he'd stayed. If he'd left without talking about it their summer romance would either be over, or it would have died a slow horrible death before being written off as the worst one in history. However, now that he and Lois had talked about it, laughed about it and knew where they stood, things could go back to normal.

He was just glad they were mature adults who could laugh together, talk to each other, piss each other off and have the most amazing sex of their lives, yet were experienced enough to remain objective and not turn their relationship into a romantic fairytale of true love found.

oOo

Lois returned to the kitchen and while washing the rest of the dishes started giggling. It really was awful how two mature reasonable adults could take one incident, pull it all out of perspective and promptly act like children.

Yeah ok so weeks ago she'd had a flash of this morning's activities, so what? She'd had two flashes of them being somewhat mushy with each other, so it wasn't like she'd had no warning that it was going to happen. The only reason she'd been caught her off guard was because she hadn't expected it to happen like that since their first roll around had been uncontrolled, completely carnal and full of want which they were both used to.

As for why she'd been so shaken about it, well that was really very simple; it was because she hadn't been given the privacy to get used to it alone. The flash coming to life had startled her, but what really threw her off stride was twofold. The first was that she didn't even realise it had come true until after they were finished, and the second was because the expression on her face that she'd seen in the vision had matched the way she'd felt inside; aching for him and cherished by him.

However, as she'd pointed out to Clark earlier, that was only natural with two people who'd become comfortable with each other. But as she was now prepared for it, at least she wouldn't act like a 12 year old afterwards when it happened again.

In the final analysis, she was just grateful that she'd always been a practical minded woman who didn't allow feelings to rule her life, and Clark was a straight thinking man who no longer allowed them to dictate his. If either of them were sloppy sentimentalists no doubt they'd still be making more about this than need be, and their relationship would now be in the toilet.

oOo

_10am – Marshall Farm_

Clark plucked apples from the tree, and placed them in the crate automatically while his mind persisted in staying otherwise occupied.

Even though he'd felt better after clearing the air with Lois this morning, and even though he'd fathomed it all out to himself afterwards, his mind's eye insisted on replaying everything over and over like a scratched record stuck on repeat. He wouldn't have complained about that because he liked sex, he liked thinking about it, but he wasn't in the habit of examining his emotions about it, and that was the precise problem. He usually didn't think about it. He did it, he felt good, it was over, he felt good, end of story.

He was used to experiencing a number of things before, during and after sex, but the feelings of tenderness, warmth, want and absolute rightness that swept over and through him while making love with Lois that morning continued to disturb him.

What kind of worried...no not worried, concerned, no, bothered? Hmm, yeah ok what kind of bothered him was because his brain decided to keep yapping he now knew that this morning wasn't the first time it had been more than sex, it was just the first time that he'd realised it.

What kind of bothered him a little more was that he was the one who'd pushed the issue and got Lois to agree they wouldn't be awkward about it ever again. However, that was when he was still living in blissful ignorance. Being unaware might mean that you were living in a fool's paradise, but hey sign him up for that because it was easier on the nerves.

He could call her up later with the excuse that he was tired from working in the fields so couldn't see her tonight, but that sounded kind of cowardly since he'd never been too tired before. And there was no way he was going to let her think she'd got him running scared him because she hadn't. Lois Lane did not scare him, not at all, not even a tiny little bit, it was her feminine mind that did.

Where a man didn't think something was important, a woman did. If his team didn't win the Super Bowl that was important, hell that was enough to be depressed about and cry over, yet for a lot of women something like that didn't matter, but not hearing from a guy for a few days was enough for them to break out the tissues and need supportive comfort from their friends. The feminine mind worked in mysterious ways and after having all day to ponder things over, god only knew what Lois would be thinking come tonight. At this point he didn't know if he was damned if he kept their date; or damned if he didn't.

"Hey Clark, Dean just called us in for morning tea, and by the way I think your crate's full buddy." At Neil's voice, he came out of his meditative state, noticed the overflowing crate and mentally smacked himself.

"Yeah thanks, I ah...I just wanted to grab a few more before stopping." Hoisting the crate onto his shoulder, he climbed down from the ladder and placed it on the ground before walking towards the farmhouse while determinedly trying to keep his mind blank; and failing.

oOo

_10.30am_

Lois pulled on one outfit, yanked it off, threw it on the pile already on the bed, and pulled on another. Shaking her head once again she ripped it off and began the process again, and again. Standing in front of the mirror in her bra and panties she reached into the closet for another outfit, saw the reflection of the room in the mirror and stopped. The bedroom looked like a jumble sale hall.

"What am I doing?" Stepping over she pushed aside a pile of clothes and sat on the edge of the bed "I'm a level headed woman, not a crazy person yet look at me searching for just the right something to wear when Clark comes over tonight." She dropped her head into the hands and sighed slightly "If he saw me now, saw the state I'd gotten myself into, he'd laugh himself sick at what an idiot I'm being."

At the growl she dropped her hands and snickered at seeing the dog crawling out from under a pile of clothes on the floor "I'm sorry boy." Tossing aside the clothes, she picked up the mutt and fell backward on the bed "None of us want a repeat of this morning do we sweetie?" At his small woof she smiled and shook her head once again "I'm a grown woman Attila and this is not my first relationship. It's not the first time that I've slept with a man and felt awkward afterwards, and it's not the first time that I've felt unsettled, but it is the first time that I feel..." She took a deep breath and let it out in a woosh "...shy. How stupid is that. I don't usually feel shy with people, I don't have a bashful bone in my body, but the thought of seeing Clark tonight is freaking me out."

Attila began licking her face, causing her to laugh. Catching him for a hug, she pressed a kiss to his head "You're right boy, nothing's so bad that a little doggy love can't it make better." Sitting up she looked around the room and shook her head "Ok, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to clean up this room, get dressed and then you and I are going to the vet for your check-up. After that we're going to buy dinner and I'm going to stop thinking about this and stop acting like a nitwit; what'd you think?"

The dog woofed and after a last pat, she got up busy setting the room to rights.

oOo

_11.45 am – Smallville V__eterinarian_ _Clinic_

After finishing his examination Grahame Anderson stood up and smiled "Attila's doing really good Lois. The sore near his bottom has healed and so have most of the cuts on his legs. The deep one that was on his right front paw is healing nicely but you'll still need to apply the ointment for another week just to be on the safe side."

She nodded and ran her hand over the animal's back "No one's reported him missing have they?"

He shook his head and smiled again at the relief visible on her face "No, I rang a couple of the local animal shelters in the surrounding towns, plus the city pound in Metropolis just in case but he hasn't been reported. He's yours Lois, so you don't have to worry that anyone will come along and take him from you."

She smiled sheepishly "I know it's silly but..."

"It's not silly at all." He reassured her seriously "As a vet I like seeing healthy animals that are well looked after, and this one looks nothing like the sad beaten down dog you found and brought to me a little over a week ago." He smoothed his hand over the dog's head and smiled "This little fellow now looks happy and content, and that's a clear testament to how much you care about him."

"He's easy to love." She beamed and ruffled the dogs head.

"That's not what Clark says." Grahame replied with twitching lips.

"Has he been complaining to you?" She asked conversationally.

Grahame held back the laugh but nodded "Yep, he cornered me in the street a couple of days ago when he was babysitting your dog, and asked if it would be against the law for him to use Attila's carcass to make himself a fluffy cell-phone case or a toilet matt."

Lois' eyes bugged out as her hand protectively patted the animal's rump "I'll give him a toilet matt." She muttered low voiced.

"When I told him yes, he asked me if anyone had lost their guinea pig lately." Grahame's shoulders shook silently with laughter.

Lois shook her head and sighed heavily "Well I suppose a guinea pig is a step up, the last time he compared Attila to a pigmy rat." She finished blandly.

Grahame bit back the laughter and grinning, noticed that the way Attila was sitting up leaning against Lois's arm, was the same posture the dog had adopted against Clark's leg while they'd talked. There was nothing more satisfying than seeing an animal that had been badly used now cared for so much, and knowing it was loved.

"So when would you like to see him again?"

"Well unless you have a reason to be concerned, I shouldn't need to see him until it's time for his shots next year."

"Thanks Grahame." She held out her hand and gave his a hearty shake. After snapping on the dog's leash she set the animal on the ground, and bid the vet farewell.

Once the bill was settled, she stepped outside the vet's office with Attila trotting along beside her and stopping at the traffic light, looked down to address the mutt "Well boy, I think we should go and celebrate your good health; what'd you think?"

He barked, and licked her toes. Taking that as agreement Lois held back the grimace and hobbled to the nearest bench. Plucking a tissue from her purse, she slipped off her sandal, wiped the dog spit from her foot, slipped the shoe back on and stood "We're going to have some cake."

oOo

_Talon_

"Hi Lois, what can I get you?" Nathan Muir smiled in welcome.

"Can I get a plain black coffee, and two pieces of the Devil's food cake to go please?"

"Yep."

"Oh and Nathan, can I also get a paper plate or something, one piece of cake is for the dog."

He grinned and nodded "Sure."

While waiting for her order, she passed the time of day with a couple of the wait staff while keeping an eye on the entrance to ensure Attila was ok, and smiled when the dog kept poking his head just inside the doorway to seek her out.

Setting the Styrofoam mug and bakery box on the counter, Nathan tilted his head enquiringly "Here you go, would you like me to put it in a carry bag for you."

"Please." Bobbing her head in thanks, she reached for her purse and raised her brows at his waving hand.

"No charge."

"Huh?"

"It's on the house."

She smiled in confused thanks "Um, I appreciate it but I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I'll be in trouble if I made you pay." When her brows rose again, he informed her gravely with a smile bright in his eyes "Clark has left strict instructions that you're not to be charged for anything."

Feeling the flush creep up her neck, Lois tucked a lock of hair behind her ear "Oh, well thanks."

"Don't thank me, I'm just following orders." He grinned in return "And this is an order he's never given before."

And I bet it's already being discussed on the Smallville grapevine, Lois groaned to herself silently before smiling at Nathan once more "Well I'll be sure to thank him."

He grinned wider, nodded and turned to serve the next customer.

Making her way outside, she and Attila walked to the park, got comfortable on a bench in the shade, and after setting the dog's cake in the plastic bowl provided, Lois smiled when the animal stuck his nose in and began to enjoy.

oOo

_12.30pm – Marshall Farm_

Wiping his forehead with his sleeve, Dean looked at the activity going on around him and felt both gratitude, and relief the task was nearly done. A few more hours and his apple crop would all be harvested, packed up and on its way in the truck; then they could all relax. Well, until tomorrow when they began the second round of harvesting on Clark's crop, but he wasn't going to complain. Going to bed bone tired from working in the fields all day was a good kind of exhaustion.

Rolling his shoulders to ease his back muscles, Dean's eyes tracked over to find Neil munching on an apple, and had no sooner shaken his head amused, than his own stomach rumbled loudly in return. Taking a quick look at his watch to confirm the time, he turned to the men "Time out guys. Let's get these crates loaded in the root cellar then take a break. Lunch will be here in 30 minutes ok?"

The men nodded in agreement, swiftly loaded the crates in the beds of the pickups, and then unloaded them again in the coolness of the root cellar before retreating indoors to wash up. While waiting for the food Dean had ordered to arrive, they got comfortable at the kitchen table, and smiled in eager thanks for the ice cold beers handed round.

Ripping off the tab, Clark took a long gulp and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then sighed in blissful satisfaction. Food was something that he enjoyed but to his mind, beer was a necessity in life.

When his phone rang, he pulled it out of his pocket and clicked it on "Hello."

"Hi Clark it's me, Lois."

"Hi." At the sound of her voice, he smiled while trying to ignore the nervousness that crawled into his belly once again. This...uneasiness was damned inconvenient. "Can you hang on for a sec?" At the affirmative reply, he signalled to his friends that he'd be back, and stepped outside the house.

Sitting down on the top porch step, Clark took a deep breath and silently berated himself to stop being a moron.

For god's sakes man it's only Lois. Act natural, be natural and take your cue from her. If she's calling with an excuse for why they shouldn't see each other tonight, well that was fine, so were you...and you know that you were going to do it first, but she called and got in before you could. That aside she was not going to brush him off. Just remember not to fly off the handle before flying to her house and shaking some sense into her. Be pleasant, say goodbye and then fly up into the sky and find a planet to beat up before going to her place and having it out.

Finishing his little pep talk, he nodded firmly and put the phone to his ear "You there?"

"Yep, so I was just in the Talon and discovered something."

At the jauntiness of her tone, nervousness vanished and his back muscles unclenched. She was good, they were good, it was all good; thank god.

"What did you discover?" He asked amiably.

"Well it seems that I'm not to be charged for anything I buy."

"Uh huh, and have you called me to say thanks?"

"Nope, I've called to ask if I'm allowed to order us dinner from the restaurant every night from now on."

Letting out a shout of surprised laughter, Clark shook his head "Just give you an inch."

Lois smiled jauntily "Well I should get something out of it since I'm pretty sure your generosity has hit the grapevine, and consequently gotten the rumour mill all stirred up about us again."

His lips twitched "I hate to break it to you Lo, but until someone or something else comes along to grab their attention, the rumour mill won't be shutting up about us anytime soon."

"We can really stir them up if I have dinner at the Talon one night with someone who wasn't you, and stick you with the tab."

He shook his head in rebuttal "Even better, I could have dinner with someone who wasn't you, and then you can storm in like a jealous harpy, slap my date and then the two of you can go at it while I stand back and watch."

"And you'll be going home with the winner right?"

"Right."

"Hmmm."

At the noncommittal response he quickly reassured "Even though I'll pretend not to take sides, I'll secretly be cheering for you to win."

"And I bet you'll tell the other woman that too."

Clark tsked loudly "Now there's no call for you to say that, you've hurt my feelings."

"Sorry."

"Sometimes, sorry just isn't enough."

"And this is one of those times correct?"

"Yes."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." She replied in a droll tone before asking "So what will be enough?"

He heard the laughter in her voice, suppressed his grin and replied soberly "Well you could make it up to me in some way. I won't tell you how but that would go a long way toward showing that you're really penitent."

"How about I buy you a cup of coffee from the Talon?"

"Buy me a cup of coffee from a place I own, where you won't have to pay for it; I think not." He retorted with insult clear in his voice.

Lois stifled her giggle with a quick throat clearing "Well I'll worry about it later, but getting back to this girl fight I'm having with your date; what's her name by the way?"

He tapped his chin thoughtfully "Let's call her Francine."

"Sorry I didn't hear you; was that Slutty?" She asked cattily.

Knowing that he wasn't going to win this one, he simply replied "Yep."

"I thought so." She smiled smugly "Ok so during our fight will clothes be getting ripped?"

"Ripped off." He corrected firmly.

"Pervert."

"You betcha." Clark agreed readily before continuing with a smile "You'll slap her and she'll slap you back. Then you'll pull her hair, and in return she'll tear your blouse open revealing..."

"Why wouldn't she pull my hair in return?" Lois cut in curiously.

He rubbed his chin and considered the possibility for a moment before agreeing "Actually that does work better. Ok, so she'll grab onto your hair, you have a mile of it so there's plenty for her to grab onto, and then she'll pull your head back intending to slap you again, but her fingers will accidently get hooked into the v of your shirt tearing it open, showing off the skimpy sexy bra you're wearing underneath…."

"She won't accidently rip my bra open?" Lois interrupted to ask tongue in cheek.

"Nope, the other diners can get a peek of your bra, maybe some skin; nothing more than you'd show off at the beach but your breasts are off limits."

"Ok, so by now my boobs in their sexy bra are on display for all the diners to goggle at, and what do I do in return?"

"Well first you'll scream '_you bitch_!', but she'll just sneer at that..." Lois bit back the sniggle that wanted to escape, while Clark closed his eyes and smiled imagining the scenario "Then you'll both tear off your clothes until you're only standing in your underwear, and then..."

"Why would we do that?"

"Because the short tight outfits you're wearing will hamper your movements, and you want the extra leverage so that you can wrestle properly."

"And we stop fighting long enough to discuss this?" Lois asked fascinated.

"No I suggest it, but since you both want to please me the clothes are history." He ignored the rude noise she made and continued once again "Now getting back to what's happening. You're standing there staring at each other; eyes flashing, breasts heaving, hair waving wildly in the wind..."

"We're inside the Talon so where is the wind coming from." She called out.

He lifted his eyes exasperated "A mysterious wind swirls through the restaurant. No one knows where it comes from it's just there, tossing your hair around sexily."

She snorted derisively "Just ours; no one else's?"

"Yes! Now can I finish?" He snapped testily.

"Please do." She replied and rubbed her brow.

"Ok, so you grab onto each other, and during the tussle the two of you will fall into the jello pit where you'll continue to pull each other's hair and fight over me."

"There's no jello pit at the Talon."

"There will be." He promised solemnly.

Giving up Lois began to cackle loudly then harder when Clark hummed loudly in anticipation.

When her laughter calmed down, she asked smilingly "Now do you wanna hear my fantasy?"

"I don't need to hear it. I know that you secretly want to cover me with whipped cream and lick it off slowly." He grinned at her shout of laughter and called into the receiver loudly "I'm totally on board with that idea by the way."

When her next round of laughter calmed down, she shook her head "Well as entertaining as listening to your delusions are I'd better go. Attila's finished his piece of cake, and is inching closer to mine."

"And I'd better go because I've got a lot of jello to make and cream to whip up." He returned smartly.

"Idiot!"

"You like me."

"I hate you." She replied crushingly.

"I hate you back." He retorted swiftly.

Lois grinned foolishly into the phone, Clark did likewise.

"I'll see you later ok." He told her softly.

"Yeah; see you." She replied in kind.

A moment of silence passed "Are you still there?"

"Uh huh."

"Are you going to hang up?"

"Are you?"

"I'm waiting for you to do it."

"And I'm waiting for you to do it."

He grunted loudly in amusement "We could be here all day."

"So hang up."

"You called me."

"And...?"

"And I'm waiting for you to do it."

Lois laughed and shook her head "Now we both sound like idiots."

"Yeah we do." He nodded and proposed "Ok, on the count of three we'll both hang up alright?"

"Wait, is that on the number 3, or is it 1...2... and then we hang up?"

He scratched his head "The second one."

"Ok, I'll count."

"Why do you get to count?"

"Fine, you count." She replied exasperated.

"Typical woman, putting all the pressure on the man." He griped loudly.

Not waiting to hear anymore she clicked off.

At the dial tone, Clark pulled the phone away from his ear, and quickly sent her a text message before tucking the phone back into his pocket. He was damned glad Lois had called. Their conversation although silly and fun had definitely put them back on track. He did feel a little miffed that unlike him she clearly hadn't given any thought to what happened earlier, but then again unlike him, she really didn't have anything to worry about. As a guy he'd been concerned that she was going to start acting all girly, wanting him to talk about his feelings and such but since that clearly wasn't an issue, it was all good.

Getting to his feet, he walked back into the house, saw the smirks on his friend's faces, and knew they'd heard his conversation. He also knew that he was going to cop a serve from them, but had to admit that if the shoe was on the other foot he'd cheerfully join in on giving any one of them shit. Retaking his seat, he picked up his beer, glugged down a mouthful and waited. He didn't have to wait long.

"That had to be the most touching conversation I've ever heard in my life. It actually brought a tear to my eye." Tim wiped away a fake tear and sniffed.

"Which part moved you the most?" Dean asked pokerfaced.

"Oh it was when Clark talked about Lois and another woman fighting in a jello pit over him. Now that was classy, and much more romantic than anything I've ever seen in all the chick flicks that Lucy's made me watch." Tim insisted sincerely.

The men nodded and Clark's grin spread from ear to ear "What can I say; I'm just a romantic fool at heart."

"You're also really considerate. How many men would even think of telling the women to disrobe so they could fight without clothes getting in the way?" Mark posed the question out loud.

The men nodded solemnly while their eyes continued to twinkle in amusement.

"My parents always taught me to think of others." Clark smiled modestly.

"Well I think they must have missed a lesson or two. If you were really considerate then why didn't you think about us? You didn't even mention that we'd all be there to support the ladies by yelling 'fight, fight, fight.' How could you just leave us out like that?" Neil asked mock wounded.

"That's true, he didn't think about us at all." Dean agreed sadly, causing all to look at him with reproach.

"Sorry, next time I'll do better.' Clark replied meekly and sent them a shame faced look as back up "But I was thinking of you Tim; what would the wife have to say?"

"She'll be in the jello pit too."

"How will she get in there?" Neil asked interested.

"I accidently trip her up, and although I try to save her from falling, I only manage to save her dress which gets torn off her body when she tumbles in." Tim answered readily.

"She's your wife buddy."

"Yeah and she's got a great rack that I'd love to see covered in jello." He beamed in delight.

When the men smiled eagerly, he leant over and rapped each one smartly in the head "You're all temporarily blind."

"We don't get to see..."

"You see nothing." He cut in then held up a finger "Ok, you can see her hair being tossed in the wind."

"Well at least we get to see Lois..."

"Oh no you don't!" Clark shot down Dean mid sentence "I'm the only one who gets to ogle Lois; you lot can gawk at Slutty."

"I could have sworn that I heard the name Francine." Neil put in with a frown.

"Lois heard the name Slutty." He informed them gravely.

"My wife would have heard the name Skanky." Tim added with a grin.

The men looked at each other, laughed and just shook their heads.

"Anyway, how are we supposed to keep our eyes away from Lois when she's fighting Slutty?" Neil whined and threw out his hands in appeal.

"That's not my problem; just remember that if your eyes should happen to stray where they're not supposed to, you'll be permanently blind."

They snickered but nodded agreeably all the same.

Tim winked at the men then turned back to Clark "I can tell you're really sweet on Lois buddy."

Clark shifted uneasily when all eyes turned in his direction.

Sharing a swift look of amusement, the men decided to rescue their pal and taunt him at the same time.

"It's true Clark, and don't bother denying it. I knew you were stuck on Lois when I heard this part..." Neil cleared his throat and squealed girlishly "You hang up."

"No you hang up." Dean returned in a mock husky voice.

"No you hang up." Mark chimed in blowing kisses in the air.

Tim spat out a mouthful of beer and cackled in laughter "Yep that's the sign."

"Oh up yours." Clark griped and took another glug of beer hoping to drown his embarrassment, and sighed in relief at the tooting of a car horn outside drawing all eyes to the window.

"Lunch is here guys so we'll have to give Clark a hard time another day. For now let's eat and then get back into it." The men nodded at Dean's suggestion, while Clark sent up a quiet word of thanks.

oOo

Lois clicked off the phone and smiled at Attila "You know what boy, I'm really glad that I called him. I was nervous, but he makes everything so easy. He was the same smartass that I've been dealing with for weeks now, and I really like him that way." When her phone dinged a moment later, she read the text message from Clark and smiled wider "You cheated!"

Tucking the phone away, she took a bite of cake, saw Attila eyeing it longingly and shaking her head sadly at her own weakness, gave it to the dog and scratched his head softly as he began to chow down.

"Hello dear."

Turning at the voice over her shoulder, Lois smiled in greeting "Hi Mavis, would you like to sit down?" At the smiling nod, she set both Attila and his cake on the ground before moving over to make room.

"Thank you." Plopping down on the bench, the older woman bent down to greet the beast before making herself comfortable "I was just on my way home when I spotted you, so thought I'd come over for a couple of minutes."

"I'm glad you did. I was just in the Talon and heard about George; is he ok?"

"He's hurt his foot but it's only a minor sprain thank goodness." At Lois's wrinkled brow, she rolled her eyes "I told the old coot not to go climbing up any ladders, but he likes to imagine that he's still 20 instead of 70, so up he went, and when he came down he missed the last step and turned his ankle a little bit." She smiled lopsided "Almost gave me a heart attack to find him on the ground like that. I gave him what for after the doc assured me that he wasn't hurt too badly."

Lois grinned "Read him the riot act huh?"

She nodded firmly "I sure did, told him straight out that we've been married 42 years and I expect to be married for a whole lot longer and if ever did anything stupid to hurt himself again, I'd hurt him worse."

Lois giggled and patted the woman's arm "I'm glad that he's ok."

"Me too." She smilingly agreed before looking at the young woman with a decided twinkle in her eye "You're looking very pretty today. Is that a new scarf?"

Lois felt a blush stain her cheeks, and hoped the light silk scarf that she'd threaded through her hair was still in place concealing the hickie she was trying to hide. Lifting a hand to the side of her neck she found the ends of the scarf were still there, but smoothed her hair forward just in case "Yeah, um I bought it in Metropolis a few weeks ago."

"Well it's very nice."

"Thanks."

"And it reminds me that I might just have to ask George why he hasn't given me a reason to wear a scarf in a long time." Mavis complained with a sad shake of her head.

Forgetting embarrassment, Lois looked at the older woman in surprise "George! That sweet man?"

"George! That very same sweet man." Mavis confirmed proudly.

Lois giggled, Mavis tittered and the two women chortled.

When their mirth calmed she asked softly "So how are things with you?"

"They're good; I'm having a wonderful holiday."

"I'm glad dear, but I wish you didn't have to leave. You've become part of our town family so quickly, and I know there's going to be a lot of people who'll miss you."

"I'm going to miss everyone too." Lois replied pensively.

"Especially one person in particular." She proposed gently.

Lois felt the blush creep up her neck and silently cursed. She wasn't comfortable sharing her feelings, but refused to be rude when there was no cause to be so. Nodding slowly she looked at Mavis and offered the truth "Yeah, I'm going to miss him, but I guess that's only natural when you get involved with someone even if it's only short term."

"Does it have to be?"

She sighed and nodded once more "That's what it is, and we both agreed upon it going in."

Mavis nodded softly in return "Well things can change, and I hope they do because I'd like for you to stay. It does my old heart good to see you and Clark together; you look right. Maybe I'm just a sentimental old fool because I found my own prince charming, but I like seeing happy couples, and my goodness but you and Clark certainly make each other happy."

Lois ignored the flush that crept up her throat once again, and shook her head "You're not a sentimental old fool, you're a sweet woman and your prince charming is a very lucky man."

"I was the lucky one, but I tell him that he was." Mavis whispered confidentially.

Lois giggled but shook her head "You were both lucky."

"Yes we were, but luck and love can strike anyone at anytime."

"I guess so." Taking a deep breath and not wanting to offend, Lois asked carefully "Mavis can we keep our conversation of the grapevine."

She nodded and patted her hand in reassurance "I promise; not that you've said much that anyone could make a meal off, but I promise to keep it to myself all the same."

Leaning over she pecked the old woman's cheek "Thank you."

oOo

_6.10pm_

Pulling into the driveway behind Lois' car, Clark switched off the ignition, picked up the bag of groceries from the passenger seat, and climbed out of the truck. Pulling open the front door, he stepped inside the house, walked into the lounge room, through to the kitchen and placed the bag on the table. "Lo are you around?" At the silence, he looked out the window to find her dozing in the hammock, with the pooch snoozing at her side.

Well now this was a very nice, not to mention welcome sight to greet a man after a hard day at work. The last time he'd found her like this, it had led to a very nice afternoon tryst. He supposed that he could wait for her to wake up on her own, but where was the fun in that.

Opening the back door, he trod quietly to the hammock, slipped off his shoes and socks, picked up Attila and ignoring the dog's annoyed squeak, placed him on the ground and sent him on his way with a light tap before carefully climbing in. Lois grunted when he pushed her gently aside to make room for himself, sighed irritably when he knocked against her making himself comfortable, and hummed quietly when he turned them on their sides and tangled their legs together. Slipping his hand under her shirt to stroke over the small of her back, he smiled when she sighed and snuggled in deeper.

Leaning forward he pressed his lips to her jaw, skimmed across her cheek to her ear, and blew gently before sliding his mouth down her neck and back up again. His hand stroked up her back then down, over her waist and down to her thigh before smoothing around to sit open palmed in the small of her back once again. Breathing in her scent, he pressed his lips in the hollow of her throat and wondered how much longer she was going to sleep for.

The day they'd played in the pool had been entertaining, but he'd never done it in a hammock before, and there was a first time for everything...

"No!"

"Hmm."

"We we are not having sex in this hammock."

Clark lifted his head quickly and saw that Lois still had her eyes closed "How'd you know what I was thinking?"

At his words, her lashes flew up and a look of consternation filled her face before clearing a moment later "It wasn't hard considering you've crawled into it with me."

"I thought you were asleep."

"I _was_ dozing lightly until you woke me up." She replied dryly.

"Well I wasn't thinking about sex anyway..." Her brow winged up. Shrugging offhand he confessed "Ok, so I was thinking about it, and you have to admit it'd be pretty great to try it out."

Lois pursed her lips and eyed him.

"Have you ever done it in a hammock?"

She shook her head.

"Neither have I." He grinned in relish "So I think it's time we rectify that situation and get it on after dark."

"You make it sound so enticing." She grunted in laughter.

"Ok, then how does this sound..." He lowered his voice and whispered seductively "...after dinner we can sit out here, and when darkness falls we'll switch on some soft music, just low enough that we'll still be able to hear the breeze whisper through the trees. I'll take you in my arms and sway you gently to the music, then kiss you oh so softly. I'll steer us smoothly over here to the hammock, and you'll protest. Not much, just enough so that I understand you feel that you have to for proprietary sake, but you won't be able to fight the desire rushing through your veins when I begin to kiss all your doubts awa..."

At her snigger, he rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in defeat "What'd you want from me?"

"Something better than that crap."

"Fine then how about this; after dark we'll come out here, kiss and make out with lots and lots of heavy petting, and make love to the sway of the hammock." He told her candidly.

Lois licked her lips and considered "We'll probably break it."

"No we won't, I'll take it off the free-stand and string it up between the two big trees over there..." He waved over his shoulder "...I'll even make sure it's stabilised and secure so that it doesn't break." He promised crossing his heart. At the contemplation with a dash of indecision on her face, he coaxed "You didn't think you'd like the pool at first, but remember how much fun we had."

She did indeed "What about Attila?"

"He's not invited." Clark announced decisively.

"I meant what are we going to do with him?" She asked patiently.

"Well we've learnt to lock the bedroom door and ignore his yapping..." When her mouth opened he held up a hand "The last two days don't count. He was being unusually bratty, and we felt like selfish creeps when we tried to ignore him. However, I'm sure it was just a phase that he was going through, and if not then we need to nip it in the bud now because if we keep pandering to him, then he'll just get worse." She nodded agreement, Clark nodded in return "Besides all that, if he plays up again then I'm more than willing to pretend deafness for a little while and feeling like a satisfied creep afterwards, as opposed to a frustrated one." She giggled but nodded again. He sighed in relief and sent her a winning smile "So tonight we'll lock him inside the house and not let him intrude in our alone time; what'd you say?"

Concurring that Attila needed boundaries, and they needed some time alone, Lois caved "Ok, but if the hammock breaks and we fall, I'm never trusting you again."

"If it breaks and we fall, I promise to land on the bottom, and I'll even pause long enough to ask if you're alright before continuing." He pledged faithfully.

"Will you pause long enough for me to reply?" She asked pointedly.

He pursed his lips and admitted "Probably not, but I'll make it worth your while either way."

Chuffing out a laugh, she sat up and stretched "What's the time?"

He shrugged "It was just past 6 when I got here, so it has to be half past."

"Then I'd better get dinner started."

"What are we having?"

Lois scratched her chin but refused to look at him "Well since it's a beautiful summer's day and I know how much you like barbeque, I thought we'd have one."

"And who's cooking it?" He asked cordially.

She cleared her throat, and turned to find him lying there with his hands folded on his tummy waiting for her reply with a genial smile on his face "Well I've already done the hard part. I did the shopping and bought some thick steaks, some sausages, some corn and it's still on the cob so it'll grill nicely. I made the coleslaw..." At his snort, she amended "Fine I bought the coleslaw, but I will make a garden salad and butter the bread so..."

"So I'm going to be cooking it." He cut in to ask cordially.

"Uh huh, and last but not least, I also bought some beer and an apple pie from the bakery." She dimpled at him "It's a really fat apple pie too; it's got heaps and heaps of apple in it."

"Trying to soften me up with beer and apple pie are you?"

"Is it working?"

"And if I say no?"

"Then I guess we'll be having sandwiches for dinner. You like peanut butter and jelly right?"

Not dignifying her question with an answer, he likewise sat up and swung to his feet to the ground "Did you remember to buy barbeque sauce, because if you didn't I can't make it unless you have the right stuff on hand."

"I don't like barbeque sauce."

"I do."

"I have ketchup." She offered casually.

Rolling his eyes to the heavens, Clark shook his head "Next time you decide we're having a barbeque, pick up the phone and call me."

"I did call you."

"You didn't mention the cookout."

"Oh stop griping, ketchup is a perfectly acceptable alternative." At the dog's excited yapping, Lois looked down and grinned "Are you hungry boy?"

"Lo I hate to tell you this, but your dog is like a garbage disposal so asking if he's hungry is a waste of time." Clark advised blandly, and let out a loud 'ooof' when she elbowed him insulted.

"He's not always hungry; he's just making up for the meals he missed out on before I found him." She defended her pet.

"He's a greedy pig." Clark refuted candidly. When she turned around and shot him a look, he smiled lopsided "I know you want to spoil him Lo, but don't over feed him because it's not good for him."

She bit her lip and nodded "So what should I do?"

"I've never owned a small dog so I don't know how much they should be fed. You can either talk to Grahame, or look it up on line."

Sighing heavily she looked critically at the mutt "He's not over weight is he?"

"No, right now he's looking healthy and happy, but he's small so it wouldn't take much."

"Ok." Getting out of the hammock she picked up the beast, and looking him directly in the eyes told him firmly "No more junk food."

Attila whined at her tone. Feeling guilty she smoothed one hand over his small little head but had to turn away from his sad eyes "Surely I'll be allowed to give him some treats."

"Some yes, but not all the time."

"I don't give him treats all the time."

"Yes you do." Clark refuted pitilessly.

"You're really kind of preachy." Lois accused stiffly "I'll talk to Grahame. Being the vet he'll know best and..."

"And being the vet he'll be worse than me." Clark countered confidently.

Ignoring that she waved at the house "Let's go make dinner, I'm hungry."

Giving up, he climbed out of the hammock and walked into the house behind her.

Setting the dog on the kitchen floor, Lois stepped over and poked at the bag on table "What's this?"

"Some more stuff for breakfast, you're almost out."

"Did you get some more marshmallow fluff; I'm almost out of that too."

"No I didn't." He grimaced and gestured to the bag "Can you put this stuff away while I start getting dinner ready."

"Ok." She replied disappointed "I'll get some tomorrow when I'm in town."

"Don't give any to the dog."

"Yes Father Clark." She muttered under her breath.

He quickly turned and caged her against the sink, smiling wickedly when she let out a little squeak of alarm. Leaning forward, Clark ran his lips softly up the side of her neck to her ear and whispered "I could never be a priest."

"Never." Lois agreed readily.

"And now that we've got that settled, let's move onto more important matters. While I'm cooking dinner you'll be setting the table outside right?" She nodded agreeably "Ok, well I figure that you owe me, so why don't you slip into one of your sexy nighties or better yet give me a fashion show and slip into different one's while carting things back and forth so that I can be reminded just why I put up with you."

Ignoring his last comment, Lois' brows rose "You want me to put on a nightdress fashion show for you?"

"Mmm hmm, I love the way you shimmy in them."

"I don't shimmy."

"In those things you shimmy." He refuted firmly.

"Only a tiny little bit."' She conceded and held up her fingers less than an inch apart.

Clark clasped both her hands and held them out as far as they would go "Only a whole lot."

"I thought you had some cooking to do." Lois reminded him tartly.

"I do." Leaning forward he captured her mouth in a deep kiss before stepping away to pull open the back door. Before walking through he turned back and grinned "I love the way you shimmy."

Lois giggled at that then looked down at the dog "Well boy we're having BBQ tonight what'd you think?"

Attila barked in approval.

oOo

Lois busily puttered around the kitchen getting the salad together while dodging Attila's excited prancing around her feet, but at the dog's insistent yapping, rolled her eyes and gave up. Sticking her head out the kitchen window she called out to Clark "Do you want a beer, wine, or iced tea?"

"Beer please."

Placing the meat on a tray, she grabbed the beverage and stepped onto the porch, smiling at the way Attila scampered down the steps ahead of her to sit beside Clark "He's been bugging me to let him outside, clearly he wants to be with you."

Clark looked down at the pooch before smirking at her "That's because he's not interested in salad; he wants meat and knows that I'm in charge of it."

She quickly held up a hand "Do not start the salad thing again." With a quick head shake she returned to the house leaving the guys to it.

After placing the meat on the grill, Clark took a sip of beer, and looked down at the woof from below "Yes you're getting some, and yes I'll make sure it has plenty of time to cool down before we eat ok?" The dog cocked its head and barked, before rising on his front paws to lean against Clark's leg "I'm not bringing you up here because you'll get burnt and then she'll blame me." When Attila let out a plaintive cry, he shook his head "Forget it."

Returning in time to hear the last part, Lois looked between man and beast "Forget what?"

Clark rolled his eyes down to the mutt "He wants to come up here to see what I'm doing, but knowing him he'll just get in the way and I'll accidently hit him with my elbow or he'll get burnt by the grill; either way I'll feel like an animal abuser."

Nodding seriously, she looked down and addressed the dog firmly "Forget it!"

Attila whimpered but climbed down to sit on his butt.

Spreading the plastic cloth on the table, Lois turned for the house and seeing the look of anticipation on Clark's face, lightly shook her head "You can forget it too."

"No sexy nightie?"

"No sexy nightie." Paying no attention to his overly loud grumbling, she returned to the kitchen and came back out minutes later with the plates, and cutlery. Setting her burdens down, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, saw that he was pouting in her direction and slowly reached up to undo the top button on her shirt. Her fingers hovered, moved down and slipped the second button free before peeling the sides apart leisurely to allow the cool breeze to dance over the skin she'd revealed.

Clark licked his lips and kept his eyes focused on the upper part of her chest which was all that could be seen. He silently encouraged her to undo another button, and sighed in disappointment when she just turned to walk back inside.

She came back five minutes later with a jug of iced tea and some glasses. After setting them down on the table, and knowing that Clark was staring, she slowly undid the third button.

Cheering her on by nodding happily, he picked up his beer to sip but paused when she undid the two buttons at the bottom of her shirt before tying the tails into knot above the low waistband of her shorts. When she turned back to the house he smiled wondering what she was going to undo, loosen or hopefully take off next.

When Lois returned with the napkins, platter and tongs, Clark grinned in anticipation and after quickly checking to ensure the meat wasn't in danger of burning, gave her his full and undivided attention.

Reaching up she took the clip out of her hair, swished her head back and forth then ran her fingers through the strands slowly, deliberately. Almost laughing at the look of excitement on his face, she dropped her hands to her shirt buttons, undid the third one then the fourth and pulled the sides apart just enough to give him a good long gander at the lacy bra she was wearing. Her fingers moved down to the next button, he nodded enthusiastically; she bit her lip indecisively and swiftly did the fourth button back up again.

At the look of sorrow on his face she sniggered and began setting the table.

"Unfair." Clark declared grouchily and gulped down half the contents of his drink.

Grinning she sauntered back to the house for the buttered bread, and after setting it down on the table poured herself a glass of iced tea before making herself comfortable "It really is a beautiful day huh?"

"Yeah, so what'd you end up doing with yourself on this fine summer's day?"

"Not much. I stopped in the Talon after taking Attila to the vets for a check-up; Grahame's really pleased with his progress by the way, then we went grocery shopping before coming home again."

Clark's brow wrinkled in thought "You know Lo speaking of Attila, he's really gotten used to Smallville since this is where you found him and all."

"Yeah he loves it here."

"So he might not like living in the big city."

She frowned and looked at her pet then looked at Clark again "But I don't live in the big city..." At his raised brows she amended "I live in the outskirts and I'm not there all the time, quite often I'm on the road."

"That's true..." He bobbed his head slowly before casually mentioning "...but going from a quiet little town where he feels at home, to being carted around from pillar to post and in between times living in San Francisco will be a big adjustment for him."

"But I don't actually live in the city." She reminded him once again.

"Yeah but where you live still has to be more populated, and therefore noisier than Smallville right?"

Her frown grew deeper "You don't think he'll be happy; not even if he's with me?"

"I'm sure he'll love anything you love, and he is a resilient little chap but just remember that dog's are very sensitive."

"So what'd you think I should do?"

He shrugged uncertainly "Well maybe you could ease him into leaving Smallville rather than just packing him up and leaving at the end of August. If you get him acclimated to not living in a small town by going for long drives and things, then he won't feel overwhelmed by having to adjust to a new way of life either on the road or in the city."

Lois scratched her chin and nodded again "I'll start doing that from tomorrow. For the rest of this week we'll go for long drives every day, and maybe even stay overnight somewhere. Next week we'll go to Metropolis and stay there for a couple days, and the week after that we'll go away for three days etc. If I do that, by the end of August he'll be used to crowds, used to being on the road with me, and used to not living in Smallville as well." Smiling proudly at her solution she looked at him hopefully "What'd you think?"

Clark just stared at her unable to comprehend her thought process. How on earth could she possibly have taken what he'd said, and come up with that ridiculous solution? She was supposed to realise that staying in Smallville would be to Attila's benefit, not that she was meant to leave for days at a time before the end of August; grrrrr...women! She didn't deserve to have a dog.

"Clark?"

At her prompting he quickly recovered, and sent her a chagrined half shrug "Actually thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure my whole argument about him needing time to get used to the idea of leaving was from something I saw in a Disney movie."

Lois looked at him startled "A Disney movie?"

"Yeah um...uh huh."

"Well Disney movies can be quite brutal, but they always have a message we're supposed to learn from them." Her brow wrinkled reflectively.

"They're entertainment for kids." He snorted loudly "C'mon Lois how often have you seen an elephant fly? You shouldn't take them so literally."

"Yeah but Dumbo was really sad and the message..."

"Will you forget about Dumbo; I'm saying that I gave you the wrong advice." He cut in exasperated.

"So you don't think I should start leaving for short periods now and..." At his fierce headshake she looked at him doubtfully "You're sure?"

"Lois I had a dog, so I think I know more about animals than you do."

"Yeah but Shelby didn't travel around, he just lived with you at the farm and..."

"And I still know more." He pronounced decisively.

"Ok, so I'll forget about it."

"About time." Clark mumbled under his breath.

Shrugging she began chatting about this and that while trying to ignore the rumbling in her tummy from the smell of the barbeque wafting in the air.

"Attila's steak's ready, but ours will be another few minutes yet." He held out a hand in request "Can you pass me his bowl." She handed it over, he forked up the steak and handed it back "Let it cool down a bit before he eats it ok?"

Nodding she cut up the steak then had to hold the bowl aloft as the dog began jumping in anticipation "You have to wait a few minutes boy or you'll burn the inside of your mouth and your tummy, and then you'll know all about it."

Clark looked at the table and raised his brows "Lo, you forgot to bring the sauce."

Her eyes swept over the table and seeing that he was right, she set the bowl down in the centre of the table and went to get it.

Quickly stepping over, Clark blew on the meat in the dog bowl just enough to take the edge off, and just as quickly stepped back to man the BBQ.

When Lois returned a minute later, she set the sauce on the table, checked the dog's food and her brows flew up "This is already cool, well not cool exactly but it's only warm."

"You might as well give it to him then."

She nodded hesitantly and put the bowl on the ground "Be careful boy, it might still be hot." Since the dog was already nose deep in the steak, she sat up and shrugged "Well he's happy so how long before I'm happy?" She asked eagerly.

"Soon, ours are almost done."

"How soon?"

"Soon."

"How soon, 5 minutes 10?"

"Less than 5."

"If it's less than 5 then what does it matter? Just take them off the grill so we can eat already."

"They still need a minute."

"But I want dinner now." She whined theatrically.

"Well you're going to have to wait." He whined back.

She waited a beat and asked "Are they ready yet?"

"Almost."

"That's what you said a minute ago."

"And I'm still saying it."

She scooted off the bench to stand beside him "But I'm hungry now, and the smells driving me crazy."

Clark just rolled his eyes "Well you're in luck because they're done."

"Good." At the woof she looked down to see Attila's bowl was empty "Do you want some more boy?"

"He always wants some more." Clark looked at the mutt and addressed him "Since you've already eaten you can wait a few minutes until I get the rest of the barbeque of the grill first. Can you pass me the platter Lo?"

She retrieved the plate and handed it over, watching hungrily as he began to transfer the cooked meat to the plate but turned her attention to the dog, who was now whining and dancing around their feet.

Lois shook her head and obediently forked up a fat sausage "Ok boy ok its coming."

"Babe you need to let it cool down first or he's going to burn his tongue." Clark reminded her hastily.

"I know; I'm going to cut it up so it cools down faster, then he can eat when we do." She replied, before turning to him with brow lifted in query "Question?"

"Hmm."

"Did you just call me babe?"

Clark paused in his task, and blinked rapidly at the grill while his mind feverishly backtracked over their conversation. Turning to her slowly, he nodded "Yeah."

"Why?"

Good question, he thought silently. Stalling, he put the items in his hands down and wiped his forearm over his brow. She didn't look pissed or eager, just curious. He could go with option one and tell her truth, which is that he'd spoken without thinking but he didn't like that one. That one led to an open door invitation for a whole new mess of crap neither of them wanted after this morning's fiasco. This morning; hang on what about this morning? Mentally flipping backwards, he refrained from groaning out loud. He'd said it this morning when...oh no, he was not going there. Not now, not ever, never. Lois hadn't noticed it so he wasn't going to mention it.

Ok, so he'd have to go with option two which meant lying his ass off, and frankly he was a lot more comfortable with that one. That one led to smoothing over the situation with a bit of nonsense, while keeping his ego nicely intact.

Nodding internally, Clark sent her a cocky smile and shrugged nonchalantly "That's what I call all the women I'm seeing. You know to save me from having to remember their names."

"Really?" She asked politely.

"Yeah, it sounds affectionate which makes them feel special so..." He trailed of deliberately.

"Well I'll feel even more special if you just use my name." She advised sweetly "Here I'll even help you out." She pointed to herself and spoke slowly "My name is Lois."

His lips twitched "I know who you are; it was just a slip of the tongue."

"I see."

"Do you mind?"

Considering he'd looked like a startled owl when she'd taxed him with it, and she'd watched his face change as one thought after another chased itself over his features, she didn't believe him for one minute. However, figuring that turn about was fair play, Lois smiled and likewise lied "Not at all. In fact why don't I call you what I normally call all the men I'm seeing, to save me from having to remember their names."

"What's that?" He asked warily.

"Turd!"

Clark sputtered in laughter, switched off the grill and quickly took the knife out of her hand. After placing it on the table, he slipped his arms around her waist and asked with merriment still quivering his voice "You can't think of anything nicer?"

"Like what?"

"Stud, handsome, good looking, sexy, my prince..." At her giggle he grinned "Any of those is fine."

"Gee I wonder why?" Lois remarked aloud "How about 'hey you' is that a fair compromise?"

"Nope, I'm going to call you baby so..."

"Hang on, you've gone from babe to baby?"

"Well yeah, now that you know my trick and clearly don't want to be lost in the shuffle of all the others..." At her rude snort he grinned even wider "...I'll change it slightly. Just enough so that **you** know you're my number one, but not so much that **I'll** get confused."

"Wow, I don't know if I can handle the exalted position of being number one..." she paused for a beat to ask anxiously "...among how many exactly?"

"Thousands." He answered speedily.

Gulping back the laugh Lois threw up her hands "I just have nothing to say to that."

Likewise trying not to laugh Clark nodded seriously "I'm not surprised, it's quite unbelievable when you think about it."

"It's even more ludicrous that you actually said it." She retorted before tugging his arms from around her waist "But for now my prince I'm hungry. So why don't you stop fantasising and instead do something useful, like getting the rest of our diner off the grill?"

Sniggering he pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth "Ok."

oOo

_Later that night_

Pressing a kiss against her forehead, Clark sighed deeply in contentment while revelling in the sensation of feeling every feminine curve of Lois' body aligned with his. Her breasts plump and soft resting against his chest, her fingertips stroking absently over his butt, her legs tangled with his. He loved, absolutely loved to feel her close to him after sex. This was a yet another new experience for him. He usually preferred his space and no conversation afterwards, but with Lois the rules and policies he'd lived by, that he'd been happy with for years seemed to be changing daily.

Tugging her leg over his hip, he smoothed one hand over her back and smiled hugely "You've gotta admit that was really fantastic."

Lois giggled before tilting her head up to allow the light breeze to blow gently across her hot face "Yeah, I've gotta admit it was."

"And you only squealed once." He chuckled lightly.

"I didn't squeal that was a gasp..." At his scoff, she narrowed her eyes, saw the humour in his face and pinched his butt "...of pleasure." She tacked on quickly.

"You squealed when you thought the hammock was going to break." He laughed softly "The gasps came afterwards; I made sure of that."

"Braggart." Lois laughed lightly and began to sit up only to be tugged back down.

"Let's just lie here for a while." Clark murmured softly and at her nod, set the hammock to swing gently.

Turning to lie on her back, Lois looked up at the night sky and smiled at seeing thousands of bright dots in the sky "It's beautiful out here."

"Yeah it is." He replied and resumed a likewise position.

"Before coming back, I'd forgotten just how peaceful it was here at night."

"Yeah, some people come here and think they're going to like it enough to stay, but even though we're only three hours from Metropolis, for them it's too far away and they leave just as quickly as they arrived."

"Well I can understand that, when I first moved here years ago I missed the city a lot." She replied quietly "The fact that Metropolis was so close, actually made it harder not easier."

He nodded in understanding then shrugged "I love it here and couldn't imagine living in the city permanently. There are too many people, too much noise, too much everything. I like it for a couple of weeks at most but any longer than that and it's too long."

"Different strokes."

"Mmm, I know you travel around a lot, but you do have a home base right?"

"Yeah, I share a house with my friend Anne; she's the one I own the business with."

"But you're not there often."

"I'm there two weeks out of four, the rest of the time I live out of a suitcase."

"Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Not really, I actually get the best of both worlds." She shook her head and her lips tilted "I see my friends while at home, visit my dad and sister while on the road, and get to see this great country of ours."

"But don't you ever get lonely?"

"Sometimes, but not enough to give it up." Lois shrugged unconcerned.

"Well one day you might just decide that you've had enough of living like a gypsy and want to stay put somewhere." Clark remarked casually.

"Maybe, I've never really thought about it before."

"You didn't have Attila before either, and a dog's a pretty big responsibility."

She nodded slowly in agreement "That's true."

Figuring he'd nudged her enough for the present, he nuzzled against her earlobe, blew into the shell gently and smiled when she shivered "C'mon let's go inside."

"But I'm comfortable right here." She groaned theatrically.

"I want some more dessert." Climbing out of the hammock, he picked up his jeans, and tugged them on but at the slight noise from behind turned to find Lois was curled up, pretending to be asleep "The fake snoring is not going to work."

She squinched her eyes shut tighter and grunted louder.

Letting out a small laugh, Clark hoisted her up to a sitting position, and ignoring her muttered protests held out his shirt.

Knowing that he wasn't going to give her any peace, Lois dragged it on then stood "You know where the kitchen is so why do you need me?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because." He retorted and slipping an arm around her waist led her into the house.

They no sooner stepped into the kitchen than Attila sat up excited.

"You've been fed." Clark declared loudly.

"You're having desert so surely he can have something too." Lois frowned in disapproval.

Lifting his eyes heavenward Clark just sighed "Fine!"

Almost dancing in victory she hopped to and got the animal some desert leaving Clark to fend for himself.

oOo

_An hour later – standing on the front porch_

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

At the growl Clark looked down and was unsurprised to find the dog chewing on the bottom of his jeans. Holding onto the banister with one hand, he lifted his foot and snickered when Attila clung on tenaciously uncaring that he was dangling in midair "Babe you'd better take him, or he'll be going home with me."

Shaking her head at the dog's behaviour, Lois clasped the beast carefully and tried to tug him away "Come on boy you can play with him tomorrow." She smoothed her hand over his back enticingly "I'll buy you a pair of pants that you can chew on, or maybe Clark will bring you a pair of his..." At his small snort she shot him a look and hissed "Work with me here."

"Would it help if I took off my pants now and left them for him?" He asked amiably.

She tugged again but when he still refused to unclamp his teeth, she firmed her voice "Attila Lane you let him go right this minute!"

The animal released his grip, Lois sighed in relief then rolled her eyes when he instantly began yapping "I'm not sure if he wants you to stay or if he wants you to go."

Knowing that he could use the mutt as an argument to stay Clark tossed the idea over for a few seconds before deciding to keep it in reserve for another time should it be necessary. Patting the dog in thanks for the idea he grinned cheerfully "Well for now I have to leave, see you mutt." Leaning forward he pressed a swift kiss to her cheek before "Good night."

"Good night; I'm sorry for ..." She nodded at the animal in her hands.

"Don't be, I'm not." Clark told her in all sincerity before capturing her mouth in a quick hard kiss "Don't be too hard on him, he's a sweet little chap who's just looking out for you."

"I thought you considered him a little shit?"

"Sometimes, but not right now." Clark confirmed and whistling joyfully, turned and made his down the stairs.

After waving goodbye, Lois stepped back into the house, put the dog on the floor and frowned at him "Attila we're going to be here for several more weeks, and there are some ground rules that I expect you to obey." The dog looked at her adoringly. Ignoring his melting puppy eyes, she began patiently "Now you know that I love you but I also like Clark. I like spending time with him, so you're just going to have to bite the bullet and find a way to get along with him."

Attila barked in reply.

"Ok, now I know the two of you weren't crazy about each other when you met, but despite all the growling you've gotten to like him haven't you boy?"

He barked again and wagged his tail.

"Good, now I understand that being a guy you've got this whole territorial thing going on with Clark, and more than likely since he's a guy he understands what it's all about, but as a girl, here are my rules. You can chew on his pants leg, you can yap and annoy him, play with and bug him as much as you like, BUT at the end of the night when Clark has to leave, you have to let him go without any fuss."

The dog turned and pranced into the living room. Lois threw up her hands in defeat "Whether man or beast it makes no difference; men just don't listen."

oOo

Pulling up in front of the farm 20 minutes later, Clark switched off the ignition and smiled pensively. He'd felt it again. Their time in the hammock tonight had been a combination of enthusiasm and laughter, yet it had felt just as special as it had this morning.

He'd tried not to think about it all day but now knew that what Tim had said was right. He was sweet on Lois. It was such an old fashioned way of phrasing it, and he was sure that it was just a phase that he was going through, one that he'd recover from with very little effort, but at the moment he couldn't deny it.

Getting out of the truck he walked up the stairs, into the house and the smile dropped off his face when he was greeted with empty silence. He was going to have to do something about this. This staying in separate houses was getting old. The next time Attila grabbed his leg he was going to find an excuse to stay over, and if the mutt didn't grab his leg then he'd just have to find a way to get rid of Lois for a minute or two, and tease the beast until he did grab his leg. All was fair and enough was enough.

He missed her. He'd just spent 4 hours in Lois' company, had only just left her place and he missed her. Maybe he wasn't sweet on her; maybe there was something wrong with him.

Maybe he was coming down with something.

Maybe there was a summer flu bug going around that he was susceptible too.

Maybe he should go to the fortress tomorrow and ask Jor-el about it.

Clark grunted before remarking out loud "Fat lot of good that would do. In all the years Jor-el told me stuff, told me off and just plain nagged at me, he never once saw fit to mention that Lois Lane should come with a warning label, and I should stay well away from her if I knew what was good for me." He looked up at the ceiling and called out sarcastically "Thanks dad!"

After locking the door he strode into the lounge room to watch the late news, but had no sooner switched on the TV then he switched it off again and began talking out loud once more

"Then again it wasn't all Jor-el's fault, my other dad is also partially to blame. He never hesitated to nix any ideas in the bud when I wanted to do something that he didn't agree with. So when I asked Lois to stay with us why didn't dad just overrule me and say no?" He tapped his fingers on the arm of the couch in contemplation "The Kent's are well known for their hospitality true, but dad was really protective of me so if he'd just done his job and kicked Lois out years ago, she wouldn't have gotten comfortable in Smallville and never come back, and I wouldn't now be in this mess." Clark lifted his eyes to the ceiling once again and called out "Thanks dad!"

He scrubbed his hands over his face and shook his head "I'm going crazy. I was sane before Lois came back, but she's driving me to bedlam. Why the hell would I be sweet on her? She's rude and stubborn, fun and cheeky, obstinate and sexy, delightful, intractable and..." blowing out a deep breath he finished "...and completely darling." Raking his hands through his hair, he dropped his arms and groaned "And now she's got me talking to myself." He got to his feet and nodded decisively "I'm going to bed, and I'm going to sleep, and I'm sure that in the morning this malaise I seem to be suffering from will have passed."

Making his way upstairs, he peeled off his clothes, slipped into bed and sniffed deeply then sighed in disappointment.

Damn!

Lois hadn't spent any time at the farm in well over a week, and since his mom had drilled into him that washing the sheets once a week was a must, he'd stupidly done that and now couldn't even get a tiny whiff of Lois' scent. What was mom thinking? Seriously, did sheets need to be washed once a week? He didn't think so!

"Thanks mom." He grumbled loudly.

Well Lois was just going to have to come over and roll around on his bed for a while. Turning over, Clark picked up his cell phone from the bedside table, pressed automatic dial and waited

"Hello."

"Hi Lo it's me."

"Hi, what's up?"

"Well I was just thinking that maybe you and Attila could come over here for dinner tomorrow night."

"Sure that'd be fine." She paused and asked suspiciously "Hang on; why?"

"Well it's been a week since you were last here, and I think we should make it a standing weekly date to spend an evening at my place; maybe even two."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because it's only fair."

"Ok." She waited a beat and asked cordially "Is that all?"

"Yeah...well actually now that I've called, maybe we can just chat for a while."

"Chat about what?"

"I don't care, pick something."

She rolled her eyes but began to talk about this, that and the other.

oOo

Returning to the couch with a fresh glass of iced tea, Lois stretched out on the couch to get comfortable, and smiled when Attila whimpered to lie beside her. Picking up the beast, she set him down and smiled again when he curled up so they were face to face "I was trying to watch the movie y'know." He barked and licked her chin "Ok so I've seen it before, but the guy in it's cute and even though I love you, I have to admit he turns me on more than you do." At his whine she pecked a kiss to the tip of his nose "But he doesn't turn me on like Clark does." Leaning forward she confessed softly "Do you wanna know a secret? When I was a kid my friends and I used to read the racy parts in books, and then talk about it what it must be like to do it." Attila licked her cheek, Lois grinned "We were really curious, and enjoyed reading the smutty parts but it felt weird and kind of wrong. I know now that it's not, but back then it seemed like it, so it was our own guilty little secret."

When Attila woofed softly, she giggled lightly in return "That's easy for you to say, when a girl dogs in heat, you boy dogs just go for your life. It's not so easy when you're a horny curious teenage girl but don't want anyone to think you're a degenerate pervert." She blew out a soft breath and continued "Anyway, what I'm getting at is that I've never really felt all the stuff heroines in books feel when they finally do the deed with the hero. I mean I've been with men that I really liked y'know, and although I felt close to them and it was nice, I didn't feel all the things that I've read about, so I just figured all that gooey stuff from romance novels was nothing more than a bunch of hooey..." She rolled onto her back and rubbed her tummy while staring at the ceiling "...but I'm not so sure anymore. I'm 35 years old so I know better than to start imagining that Clark's the hero I've been waiting for my whole life long, but I also know that what I feel when I'm with him is real, more real than anything I've ever experienced before."

When the dog crawled onto her tummy, she smoothed a hand over his head absently before pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose "I really like him boy, but what if I end up liking him too much, and he doesn't feel the same way back? Or what if all of this is just because of the visions I had. I want it to be real, and yet it scares me that it could be; and what's really appalling is that I can't believe it's Clark Kent who is getting me so worked up." Dropping her hand, she opened her eyes and ticked the dog under his chin "I'm a mass of contradictions huh?" Attila licked her fingers in return. When the phone rang she picked it up and clicked it on.

"Hello."

"Hi Lo it's me."

Her tummy fluttered and her smile grew "Hi, what's up?"

Putting the phone down 45 minutes later she looked at the dog and smiled "It's amazing how just one phone call can make everything ok. Clark's a great guy who makes me laugh and makes me swear, and makes me feel a lot of scary things that I never have before, but that's ok because for some reason it just is."

When Attila woofed, Lois picked him up and pressed a kiss between his eyes "You know what I really love about you boy; you're a great conversationalist."


	10. Chapter 10

Hello

Firstly, thank you for all the lovely feedback, I appreciate it very much.

Secondly, I apologise for taking so long to get this update done. I could give you a whole host of reasons which would all be true, but will spare everyone from listening to my whinging and instead hope that you all find this chapter worth the wait. This is really just a filler chapter, there are no discoveries, or startling revelations but I hope you enjoy it all the same.

BTW: it's pretty long so you might want to get comfortable.

Linda

oOo

**23****rd**** July**

Two people and a dog ran up the street for all they were worth, but trying to escape the rain was pointless. It didn't start as a light drizzle, a sprinkle, or even a shower; one moment it wasn't raining and the next it was coming down in sheets.

Upon reaching the driveway, Clark scooped up the animal in one hand, grasped onto one of Lois' with the other, and tugging her along behind him, ran up the driveway of her house and onto the safety of the front porch. Woman and animal panted from the exertion, the man pretended to as all three watched the rain bucketing down while trying to catch their breath.

"Why do people run from the rain when they're already drenched and can't possibly get any wetter?" Lois panted out in between gasps.

"I don't know, but I think the bigger question is why do people run from the rain in the first place when it's only water and can't kill them?" Clark replied and setting Attila down on the porch, watched the animal give himself a good hard shake to dry off.

"Is it me or has it gotten kind of cold?" Lois asked rubbing her arms.

"It's still quite warm it just feels cold compared to how hot it was earlier, because the temperatures dropped so suddenly."

Thinking about how stuffy and thick the air had felt earlier, she agreed with a nod to save herself the exertion of further conversation, while concentrating on getting her breath back.

Several minutes later she looked at Clark and her lips twitched. Water was dripping from the ends of his hair, the tip of his nose, his clothes were sodden and a small puddle had formed at his feet. He looked back, saw that she was just as saturated and let out a bark of laugher.

"What's so funny?"

"Your hair's a mess, your make-up is smeared and you have black streaks running down your cheeks." He grinned and snorted out a laugh "Oh baby I've never wanted you more than I do right now."

"Shut up, you don't look so great yourself." She griped and simultaneously swiped at her hands cheeks, but at his next boom of laughter slammed her fists on her hips "Now what?"

"You've smudged it even more so now you look like a demented clown."

"I'm going to hit you." She warned casually.

Ignoring that Clark informed her solemnly "It's going to be pity sex tonight."

"I don't need pity sex." She retorted crushingly.

"Not you, the pity's for me." He corrected swiftly before raising his brows in query "How do you feel about wearing a paper bag over your head?"

"How do you feel about having my fist in your mouth?" Lois asked serenely before grasping a fistful of her dress to wring it out, and after giving it a good shake grasped a fistful of her hair to do the same "Whose bright idea was it for us to go for a walk tonight, even after I pointed out that the sky was thick with rainclouds?" She asked conversationally.

"Mine." Clark admitted and likewise began to wring out the sodden material of his shirt tails.

"And who was it that said and I quote, 'babe I've put the fix in. It's not going to rain babe so stop arguing with me and let's go'?" She wondered out loud.

"Me." Hooking an arm around her waist he began to waltz her around on the porch while humming out loud.

Lois frowned and concentrated before smacking him on the shoulder "Send in the clowns?"

"Yep, that's going to be our song from now on." He confirmed with a mile wide grin.

She stuck out her tongue and opened her mouth to comment but at the small annoyed ruff from below, looked down and bit back a giggle "Oh poor boy."

Seeing the dog's usually poofy hair hanging limp and bedraggled around his trembling body caused Clark to shake with laughter "Wanna come up here and dance with us huh?" Taking the dog's yip for assent, he bent down and scooped up the beast "Ok buddy the smell of wet dog is bad enough, but now it's getting muggy and you're really on the nose."

In reply Attila growled deep in his throat, and his lip curled back showing a row of small teeth.

"I think he's saying, right back atcha." Lois advised cheerfully and not giving him time to reply unlocked the front door before asking "Can you carry him straight through to the laundry and I'll get a towel to dry him down with?" At Clark's nod she tickled the dog under his chin "Sorry boy but I don't want you rolling around on the carpet and transferring your smell there." At the small but distinctly peevish woof she nodded seriously "Yes I know we have to dry off too, but you come first."

At Clark's soft grunt she grinned "Leave me alone, I like to think that being first will make him feel important."

Making their way inside the house they parted ways at the head of the hallway; she turned right to retrieve a towel from the bathroom, he turned left for the laundry.

Setting the mutt down on the floor, he swiped his hands on his jeans, sniffed them and grimaced "Gees you stink."

The dog barked in return and figuring that all was good, he got to his feet, pulled his shirt over his head and began to unzip his jeans...

"Clark, get in here!"

Pursing his lips, he looked at the dog and grimaced "I have a feeling that I'd better obey that summons or life won't be worth living." Pointing to the floor he commanded "don't move" and following the sound of muttering, he came to a stop by leaning one shoulder against the doorframe of the room Lois was standing beside "You called."

She stepped into the room, picked up an object and waved it "What is this?"

"A roll of toilet paper."

"And what was it doing sitting on top of the holder?"

"I put it there."

"Why?"

His lips crooked up at the corners "Is this a trick question?"

"No."

"Well the last roll ran out, and since to my mind that's a compulsory item no toilet should be without, I got a new roll from the rack you keep in the corner and put it there." He finished with a smirk.

"Uh huh, well to my mind the roll belongs IN the holder, not sitting on top of it." She affixed the new roll and pointed "Like that."

"It only took you a second to do it."

"And it will only take you a second to do it too." She remarked tartly before waving him out of the way to step out of the room and over to the linen cupboard to grab a towel and toss it to him "here."

Clark grabbed the towel and shook his head "You yell at me for the dumbest things."

"I do not."

"You do so. The problem is that you've gotten so used to telling me off that you don't even realise when you're doing it anymore."

"Give me a for instance, and I want a real one not some made up rubbish."

"I don't have to make things up." At her sneer, his eyes narrowed "How about when I try to save electricity not to mention help the environment by turning off the lights in the rooms we're not using, and instead of seeing that as a good thing, you get pissy about it." When her mouth opened, he pointed accusingly "You hollered at me for doing it last night Lo."

"I was in the backyard getting clothes of the line when you switched the light off." She returned incredulous.

"That was a mistake." His shoulders hunched defensively "But ok, what about when I call you up just to talk? Most women would like it if the man they're seeing phoned them to say hello, how are you, what have you been doing with yourself etc. But instead of thinking how nice I am for doing it, you grumble about it and give me a hard time."

Lois stared at him in disbelief "Oh you must mean when you call me up to talk, but then leave it up to me to make all the conversation, and the only indication I have that you're still alive is the occasional grunt you give in reply." When his mouth opened she quickly tacked on "You'll notice that I didn't say you sounded interested, just alive."

"I don't like talking on the phone."

"Then why do you call me to talk." She asked patiently.

He shrugged diffidently "Because I like listening to you prattle away."

"I don't prattle and I only yell at you when necessary."

"You prattle." Clark reiterated firmly "And although I could whinge about you, I don't."

"What could you possibly whinge at me for?"

His mouth fell open in shock "Are you kidding."

"Give me an example, and try to do better this time." She replied pleasantly.

"Better huh?" He questioned smartly "Ok, well how about when I make myself a snack. I always ask if you want one too, and although 9 times out of 10 you'll say no, you then proceed to **help** demolish mine." He asked just as sweetly and enjoyed seeing the discomfiture on her face.

"You shouldn't make such yummy snacks." Lois muttered abashed.

"And let's not forgot how you're always conveniently busy when Attila's taken a dump in the yard, and someone needs to clean up after him." He paused for a beat before tacking on "You'll notice that I didn't say me, although I am usually that someone."

"I am busy." She blustered while becoming occupied with brushing away a piece of non-existent lint from her dress.

"Doing what?" Clark asked directly.

_None of your business you big oaf_ she thought silently but mumbled verbally "Things."

"Uh huh…" He drawled mockingly "And then there's the drivel you make me watch."

At that she looked up, slammed her hands onto her hips and demanded "What drivel?"

"Chick flicks." Clark stated succinctly "Like the one we watched last week about the stupid woman who was in love with a ghost."

"You mean the Ghost and Mrs Muir?"

"Yeah."

"You said that you wanted to." She defended spiritedly.

"Hello; I could tell that YOU wanted to." Cark's eyes lifted heavenward "I simply chose to hang around and suffer through it so that I'd get sex afterwards, rather than going home without."

"You lied." Lois asked scandalised.

"Well duh!" He retorted and when her eyes narrowed, confirmed openly "I'll lie about anything, I'll even lie about lying if I have to."

"You used to be so honest."

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." He remarked gently. At the stunned expression on her face, Clark shook his head in pity at her naiveté "Anyway getting back to the point, I can't believe you didn't hear me sniggering when you started bawling your eyes out."

Shaking herself out of the stupor his admission had put her in, Lois felt the colour rush into her cheeks at his mocking and tried to rush in to deny "I didn't..."

"Don't even try babe; I'm the guy who had to get you a tea towel because you were sobbing so hard the tissues were useless remember." He cut in rudely.

She cleared her throat and held out a hand in appeal "Well it was so sad, yet beautiful and romantic all at once that I couldn't help but cry."

"What; that makes no sense." Clark shook his head baffled.

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't." He refuted outright "Watching a movie about a woman and a ghost falling in love with each other wasn't tragic, romantic or beautiful, it was dumb; or maybe appalling is closer to the truth. I felt like crying for the two hours of my life that I'll never get back after watching it."

Lois sniggered but smacked his arm "It was a good movie."

He smiled lopsided "Ok, I'll admit it wasn't bad and you've certainly made me watch worse..."

"Same goes." She interjected rapidly.

Ignoring that Clark continued "But I don't get why you were so worked up about it. Hell it took me a while to figure out that you were happy. You were crying like there was no tomorrow, but smiling like you'd won a million dollars, and then you started sighing and being all mushy to me." He swiped a hand over his jaw and admitted "Ok, I'll confess that your affectionate behaviour benefitted me, which by the way is the reason I'll watch those movies with you…" Lois sniggled at his honesty, Clark smilingly shrugged in acknowledgment "…but seriously I don't get it. There are plenty of men in the world, so why would any woman fall in love with a ghost over a living breathing man in the first place."

"Well in her case he was rough, adventurous, exciting, funny and handsome so why wouldn't she fall in love with him." Lois asked rhetorically and without giving him time to answer carried on talking "Anyway, she did start to fall for that other guy, the one who was alive I mean, but he wasn't the right one. Her heart was bruised from that experience nothing more, but what hurt was feeling like a fool for being taken in, and thinking that her last chance for happiness was gone. She didn't want to be alone for the rest of her life, she wanted to meet someone that she could love without reservation; the problem is that she already had but he was a ghost." Lois sighed dolefully "So you see _that's_ why it was heartbreaking. She did meet the right man but it was too late because he was dead, yet they should have been together while he was alive. And what made it so beautiful is that he selflessly made her forget him and then went away so that she could be free to meet someone else, but even though she didn't remember _him_ she still didn't want anyone else. So although it was wonderful that it was him or no one, it was also incredibly sad that she lived the whole of her life thinking that she was never meant to have a great love, and what made it so romantic is that he waited for her. Through all the years that passed and while she aged he just waited."

Clark shook his head and scoffed pragmatically "What'd you mean he waited for her; he had nothing better to do with his time since he was dead."

"Yeah, but he was there when she died an old woman. He came back for her, and then she was young again and they were finally able to be together forever." Lois sniffed and sighed then sniffed once more.

"And I bet he was sorry for it later. After all once she was dead too he couldn't just disappear to get away from the nagging." Clark laughed then yelped when Lois poked him in the ribs.

"He was the kind of man a lot of women are attracted to and would love to meet." She remarked pointedly.

"He wasn't a man Lo, he was a ghost."

"He was _hot_." She defended stoutly.

"He was DEAD." Clark replied bluntly.

"Yeah but he was just you know….wow."

"Babe, no matter great he was, he was still one of the dearly departed." Clark argued rationally "Now be honest, would you prefer to have a nice handsome ghost who can't give it to you, or a man like me who's alive and can?" When she remained silent, he scowled "Well?"

"I'm thinking." She cocked a brow in challenge "Ok, say something romantic that'll knock my socks off, and let's see how you compare."

Clark scratched his chin in contemplation "I have a huge boner and it's all for you."

"You call that romantic?" Lois sputtered in laughter.

"Yeah." He shrugged and nodded in agreement "I said that it's all for you and most women would love to hear a man to say that to them, and I pointed out that it's huge which should wow the hell out of you."

"You're a real poet."

"I covered all the essential criteria that you wanted in one short sentence, so stop complaining and start throwing yourself into my arms." He finished and held out his arms in invitation.

"Dream on." Lois batted his hands and snickered "And by the way; your response is my answer to why women like those movies and books."

He opened his mouth to retort but at the indignant yelping from below, Clark pointed to Lois accusingly "It's her fault that I was delayed."

Sending him a dry look, Lois picked up the dog and rubbed his head "Sorry boy, we didn't mean to forget about you. I got distracted listening to Clark's nonsense." When the dog woofed in reply, she nodded seriously "I know sweetie he always talks nonsense, but what can I do?"

Taking the beast from her, Clark tucked him under one arm "Well I've got a whole host of things that I could say to that, but since I don't want to sully your dogs ears I'm going to maintain a dignified silence. So for now I'd better take care of Attila and you'd better get out of those wet clothes."

"Yeah I will, I don't have any clothes for you to change into though." She told him apologetically.

"If you did then we'd have a problem, so it's just as well that you don't." Clark replied with a gentle smile.

Having no problem misinterpreting his message or the tone it was delivered in, Lois tried to ignore the frisson of thrill that raced through her, and delicately coughed "Um...well I don't so you'd better throw your clothes in the dryer unless you just want to call it a night."

"Nope, besides I didn't tell you to change INTO anything just to GET OUT of those wet clothes." Leaning down he captured her lips in a hard kiss "So why don't I go dry down Attila, throw my clothes in the dryer and meet you in the shower in 5 minutes."

She giggled lightly "And I suppose your object is for us to get clean?"

"My object is to nail you in the shower." He admitted frankly.

"Talk about romantic."

"Don't blame me for that, blame yourself." At her raised brows, his lips curved "Your nipples have been standing at attention like good little soldiers saluting me all this time so..."

Lois looked down and gasped before quickly crossing her arms. Clark's lips quirked "Barn door baby, I've already seen." When she flushed and crossed her arms tighter he bent down and whispered "Leave the black on your face it's kinda starting to grow on me."

"Why didn't you remind me?" Lois groused and reached back for the zip of her dress, then shivered a moment later when the wet material of her clothes grated softly against her skin.

When her nipples tightened further by the small gust of cold super-breath he'd sent her way, Clark licked his lips and turned for the laundry "Make it 3 minutes."

"Forget the shower, I have something even more fun in mind." She called out wickedly.

He swung around and at the wiggling of her brows, grinned hugely "What?"

"Meet me in the bedroom and you'll find out."

"Three minutes."

"I have to clean the makeup off first."

"I'm not interested in your face." At her glare he quickly amended "I mean you look good no matter what." When Lois folded her arms and tapped her foot, he shrugged "Will you stop wasting time and get your gear off. You can yell at me all you like once we're naked."

"Then _**you**_ stop wasting time and say something nice."

Clark hefted out a loud groan and rolled his eyes to the ceiling "Fine! You don't need make-up because you're naturally beautiful, and when you have it on I don't even notice it because you still look naturally beautiful, but when it's a mess like now I do notice it and am amazed at how naturally beautiful you still look." At her unladylike snort, he glared and pointed to the room at the end of the hallway "That's all the compliments you're getting from me, now get going."

"Oh yeah, you're a real prince." Lois chortled and threw up her hands in defeat "Make sure you dry Attila off properly."

Waving to show her that he'd heard, Clark patted the dog's head and stepped into the laundry.

Sneaking past the laundry into the kitchen, Lois got what was needed and raced to the bedroom before she could be discovered. Clark meanwhile took swift but careful care to ensure the animal was completely dry before stripping of the rest of his clothes and throwing them in the dryer. Once done he carted the dog into the lounge room, plopped him down on his play matt and seeing Attila was happily to keep himself entertained with his toys for the next little while, he likewise made haste towards the bedroom.

oOo

_30 minutes later_

Sitting on the side of the bed, Lois breathed through her nose and hoped the nausea she was feeling soon passed, along with the humiliation.

"How are you feeling?" Clark asked consolingly.

At the question her face contorted "It may sound like fun to cover a man's chest with marshmallow fluff and lick it off, but it's not. I feel sick."

Seeing the embarrassment she was clearly feeling, he tried to make her feel better by teasing "I feel sticky." He commiserated and pointed to a spot on his chest "And um…I don't mean to complain but you missed a little bit. Do you think you could maybe lick…?" At her glower he held up his hands for peace "Fine forget I said anything. I just thought you were the kind of woman who liked to ensure a job was done properly but..." He pffft loudly and finished with "...clearly you don't care if the job is half-assed."

"I just told you I'm feeling rotten." Lois complained grouchily and continued rubbing her tummy.

"Yeah, yeah." He titled his head to the side inquisitively "How about trying again tomorrow when you're feeling better."

She smacked him in the head "Am I getting through now?"

"You're saying it's not going to happen tomorrow huh?" He asked sadly.

"I'm saying it's not going to happen ever again."

At that Clark frowned fiercely "That's unfair; what if there's an emergency?"

"What kind of emergency could warrant me doing this to myself again?"

"Well you might want to turn me up sweet for a favour, and figure your best shot of doing that was to suck up and treating me like an object of sex worship for a couple of hours first."

"I would never do anything so cheap and underhanded." She condemned roundly.

"I think you're being very judgemental Lois and it doesn't become you." Clark returned candidly.

At the almost virtuous tone of his voice, she bit her lip to hold in the guffaw that wanted to escape "Right sorry."

"You should be; it's not cheap or anything else but enterprising and I'll even put that in writing, and swear on a stack of bibles if necessary." He reassured gently and patted her hand for good measure.

Unable to contain it, Lois chuckled then groaned "Stop trying to make me laugh."

He smiled lopsided and opened his mouth to comment but when her face turned slightly green all humour fled "Are you going to be sick?"

"I..." She closed her eyes before quickly slapping a hand over her mouth and nodding.

Picking her up, he rushed her to the toilet and held her hair back while her body heaved and contracted emptying the contents of her stomach. 10 minutes later when she was finally still Clark asked quietly "Do you feel well enough to stand up in the shower babe, or do you think you'd better stay here for a bit longer."

"I think I've finished." Lois sighed wearily.

After helping her to her feet, he slid an arm around her waist, and escorted her into the bathroom next door. While Lois took care of gargling and brushing her teeth, Clark stepped back into the toilet to clean up before returning to help her into the shower.

Sitting in the lounge room 20 minutes later sipping at the cup of tea that he'd made for her, Lois smiled at him gratefully "Thanks."

"That's ok, are you really feeling better now?"

"Yeah mostly..." She smiled lopsided "It serves me right for thinking that I still have a cast iron stomach."

"I think the reason your stomach revolted was because of the two helpings of desert you had earlier, plus the jelly donut you took along and consumed when we went for our walk... He paused and tacked on diplomatically "...so the marshmallow fluff on top of that was probably pushing it."

Mortified anew she groaned "I sound like a pig."

"You just have a sweet tooth."

"Well I'm going to have to pull back on it." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair "I'm sorry for ruining things."

"You didn't ruin anything." He refuted firmly "So things didn't go as planned, who cares. At least it was memorable." Clark smiled and stroked a finger down her cheek.

Lois smiled back timidly "Yeah, memorably bad."

"That's your interpretation. For me it's worthy of an A plus because you were doing it for a good cause."

"It was to get you off."

"That's what I mean." He remarked sincerely.

She giggled then grinned, giggled again before smiling at him in appreciation "You really are a prince among men Clark, I mean that."

His brow quirked upwards "Does that mean you'll wait for me after your dead?"

"You're assuming that I'm going to go first." Lois asked cordially.

"Well you are older than me."

"Only by one year."

"So what, older is older." He all but sang.

"Oh yeah, well let me tell you something pal. Firstly in the natural order of things you'll predecease me, and secondly…" She poked him in the chest for emphasis "Instead of wasting time chatting with your ghost, I intend to get it on with all the cute old farts in the retirement village that I'm living in."

He chuckled and licked his lips "Well I say the natural order doesn't mean squat and you won't find me wasting time chatting up your ghostly spirit, because I'll be too busy romancing all the rich old broads who'll be on the lookout for a horny old geezer who has all his own teeth and hair." Brushing the hair way from her cheek he advised pleasantly "So if you want me to flirt with your ghost then you'd better be sweet to me now."

"If you want me to seduce yours then you'd better make it worth my while." She returned in a like manner.

"Ok, for my part I'll allow you to lick marshmallow fluff off me again." He replied graciously.

"You just don't know when to quit do you?" Lois retorted before leaning forward to press her lips to his and whisper "No."

"Is that a firm no, or a negotiable no."

"Did I stutter?" When his mouth opened she pressed a finger to his lips "Don't even."

He pouted for effect "Fine, but just so you know that's a black mark against your name."

"I'll risk it." She took another sip of tea and smiled when he muttered "unfeeling wench", while leaning over to give Attila's belly a hearty scratch thus causing the mutt to wake up and croon in ecstasy.

When the delicious feeling stopped, Attila rolled over and growled causing Clark to smirk "Are you going to be nice to me in future."

The dog yawned, stretched his back then his legs one after the other before latching his teeth onto the bottom of Clark's jeans and growling.

"I think that's a no." Lois put in with a smile.

"He'll come round one day." Clark shrugged and slipping an arm around Lois' waist brought her to rest against his side "How about we watch one of your girly type movies."

"Ok, but I still won't feel like sex or licking things off you afterwards." She warned lightly.

He frowned insulted "what...how can you...I never expected..." Picking up the remote he switched on the TV and flicked through the channels before finding a program that interested him "Just for that we're going to watch some wrestling."

Giggling again, she snuggled in against him and continued to smile.

oOo

_Two hours later_

Clark opened the truck door, but instead of climbing in turned and addressed Lois "You're coming to my place for dinner tomorrow night right?"

"Yep, and I'll be there with bells don't worry." She grinned brightly.

"Well I see that you've recovered from earlier." He remarked drolly.

"I told you that I have a cast iron stomach." Lois patted her tummy before rubbing her hands together "So what are we having?"

"Why are you so excited?"

"Well I'm going to get a free meal that I don't have to cook, what could be better than that?" She asked rhetorically.

He ignored the question and sent her a dry look "I won't bother pointing out that I usually cook any meals we have, not you."

"And I certainly appreciate the way you restrained yourself from doing that." She retorted tartly.

"Well it was hard but I didn't want you to feel bad."

"I don't."

Not going down without a fight he muttered loudly "The least you could do is take me out for dinner sometime."

She snorted but otherwise stayed silent.

Figuring that he'd have to work on guilting her into it, he decided to let it go for now "Anyway I was thinking that you and the mutt could come for lunch instead, and hang around for the rest of the day."

Lois frowned lightly "But aren't you busy?"

"Nope, we finished up at Marks place today and will start the second round of harvesting on Tim's crops Monday morning then move onto Neil's straight after that, so I've got tomorrow free." He shrugged casually "I have to take care of some things around the farm but I'll do them in the morning and then I'm good."

"But what'll I do at the farm all day?"

"What will you be doing here?"

"Nothing."

"Right, so you can do nothing at my place."

"When I said nothing I didn't mean nothing." She replied patiently "I meant that I have to do some grocery shopping, take Attila for his walk, work on the quilt I'm making my dad for Christmas, maybe finish up the book I'm reading, that kind of thing."

"You can take care of the shopping in the morning before coming over, and all the other stuff you can do all at my place just as easily as you can here." He riposted directly.

"But if I plan to spend the day at the farm then I'll have to pack all my stuff to take to your place, and then unpack it all again when I get back at night..."

"Oh yeah, and that's a real chore." Clark cut in sarcastically.

"Fine; Attila and I will be pleased to spend the day with you at the farm Mr Kent." She grasped the edges of her shorts and curtsied.

"Good, so as I'll be taking care of lunch that means dinner is your responsibility." He informed her pleasantly.

She rolled her eyes but nodded "Anything else?"

"Yeah..." He shone the most charming smile in his arsenal her way "Ms Lane, will you be my date for the town dance?"

She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment before asking casually "Is this the dance that I mentioned to you while we were having dinner? You know the one I told you that I've heard people talking about."

"Yep."

"The one that you knew very well I was waiting and expecting you to ask me to attend with you?" She clarified meticulously.

"If you mean _hinted_ for me to ask you to attend with me; then yes." He corrected kindly.

Choosing to overlook that, she tapped his arm "The very same dance that you deliberately taunted me about by saying how great it was?"

He smirked but nodded agreeably.

"And just when I didn't think I could feel any lower you put the boot in by saying only a total loser would attend alone, thereby making me feel like a total loser when you purposely talked it up but didn't invite me?" She rebuked gently.

His shoulders shook but he nodded once more.

"I'd love to." Lois accepted cheerfully.

"Great; so you have to bring some food."

Her mouth fell open at his utter cheek "What! You invited me so why do I have to bring some food?"

"All the women do."

"Why us?"

"Tradition." He returned bluntly.

Lois sighed but nodded in resignation "What kind of food?"

"Hell I don't know; party food."

"Party food, you're a big help." She grumbled softly "Well I'd better call one of the women and ask what I'm supposed to bring."

"You're going to cook?" Clark asked politely.

"Nope I'm going to buy. All I have to do is order it from a shop, take it along and I've done my part."

"It figures that you still can't cook, which explains why you conned me into cooking breakfast and more often than not dinner as well." He scoffed lightly.

Knowing he was right she ignored that and decided to lie "I can cook but I'm on holiday so prefer to spend my time pursuing slothful endeavours."

"You're on holiday, that's your answer to everything isn't it?"

She nodded agreeably "Yep, anyway why should I waste my time in front of the stove when you enjoy cooking?"

"Who said that I enjoyed it?" Clark retorted candidly "I enjoy eating and since you wear me out twice a day but don't feed me, I have to cook if only to ensure that I get some nourishment so that I don't fade away to skin and bones."

"I feed you."

He thought of the offerings she'd given him thus far; pizza, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches and the like. Suppressing the grimace, he sent her a lecherous smile instead "Tell you what, when you find out what you're expected to bring to the dance, I'll help you to make it."

"You'll cook it for me?" She smiled happily.

"I said HELP." He corrected firmly.

Her nose wrinkled "Why do you wanna waste time doing that when I could easily buy it?"

"I didn't say that cooking was all we'd be doing." He wiggled his brows and suggested wickedly "And just think how much fun we could have playing pretend."

"Pretend what?"

"Well I can be the long-suffering and extremely frustrated school teacher, while you can be the cheeky unruly student."

Lois giggled in appreciation "And I suppose you want me to wear a school uniform."

Clark's eyes glowed "Oh please would you?"

"You're a pervert."

"Yeah, but will you?"

"I'll think about it."

Grinning in anticipation, he wiggled his finger and when she leant forward, he smacked a kiss on her cheek "Thanks."

"I said that I'll **think** about it."

"I heard you say yes."

"I didn't..."

Clark's hand whipped up palm outward "Talk to the hand."

"I did not say yes and..." When he began to sing she paused, but at the cessation of his voice she tried again "I did not..." He began to sing louder. Lois snickered, waited for him to stop and rushed into speech "I didn't agree so..." He began belting out another tune and giving up with a laugh she smacked his hand instead.

Once assured that he'd won, Clark smiled at her brightly "And lastly, don't forget to bring one of your sexy nighties when you come over tomorrow."

"What for I'm only spending the day there, not the night."

"Mmm, but I guarantee you'll be going to bed before you leave." He promised faithfully.

"I'll think about it."

"Think hard because if you come without out it, I'll just send you back to get it." When she stuck out her tongue, he licked his lips and challenged softly "I dare you to come here and do that."

Lois burst out laughing "Will you leave already?"

"Give me a kiss first." He puckered up his lips, she puckered up hers, and clasping his face in her hands, pulled his head down to smack their lips together.

"That's still the biggest thrill of my life."

"Then I must be doing something wrong." She replied deadpan.

"Nuh huh, sometimes the simplest things are the best." Climbing into the truck, he got comfortable behind the wheel, and after switching on the ignition turned to her with laughter bright in his eyes "By the way, I had every intention of asking you to the dance but when you started wheedling me into doing it at dinner, I was loathe to interrupt you."

Ignoring the red that suffused her cheeks Lois refuted staunchly "I didn't wheedle."

"You wheedled."

"Bastard." She laughed in embarrassment.

He grinned impudently "See you."

Lois waved him off and asked out loud "Why do I like him so much, really why?" Unable to come up with a decent reason, she nodded "I must have a screw loose" and with this pronouncement, she returned inside to lock up for the night.

Getting into bed, she fluffed up her pillows and picked up the book from the nightstand but only managed to read a couple of chapters when her cell phone rang. Thinking it was Clark calling to talk, she picked it up with a smirk "Hello."

"Hey Lo, it's Carol."

"Hi." At the sound of her friend's voice the cheeky smirk vanished to be replaced by raised brows "What are you doing calling me at this time of night?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well let's see; it's Saturday night and although it's 11pm here, it's only 8pm where you are. 8pm on a Saturday night and you're calling me so..." Lois trailed off deliberately.

"My, you are suspicious." Carol chuckled softly "I'll have you know that I had a date last night that only concluded this morning, so I haven't decided to retire from life just yet."

She smiled and settled back against the pillows "Was your date with anyone I know?"

"Nope, I only met him a couple of weeks ago."

"Will you be seeing him again?"

"Nah, I flicked him off."

"Why?"

"Not my type."

"He was your type enough that you slept with him."

"Yeah and quoting one of my favourite people; 'I've already done him so why would I want to keep dating him'?" Carol gurgled out a laugh.

"You misquoted me." Lois laughed into the phone.

"Did not."

"Did too." She countered with a grin "I said that once I've done him the mysteries gone, so why would I want to date him."

"Semantics." Carol waved her hand dismissively "Anyway, I'm going out to dinner with Anne tonight so thought I'd give you a call while I'm waiting for her to arrive because we haven't talked since you left."

"I've missed you too."

"Sure and I can tell how much by all the phone calls I haven't gotten." Carol replied crankily.

"I'm on holiday."

"Translation; you're in orgasm heaven so your friends can go to hell."

"Will you stop?" Lois laughed out loud.

"Ok I'm good now." She giggled in return.

"How are things there?"

"Marvellous as always, we live in San Francisco after all." Lois nodded in agreement, while her friend continued on "By the way I ran into your ex the other day..."

"Which one; there's been quite a few?" Lois interrupted to enquire lightly.

"I said he was one of your exes, not one of your hits and runs."

"There's been a few of them too." She replied amused.

"Very true." Carol snickered lightly "It was Ross."

Ah yes, her last boyfriend; the bastard who'd blamed her for his inability to keep his pants zipped with other women.

"So what happened?"

"Not much. He asked how you were, I said that you were fabulous and then I told him to eat shit and die on your behalf."

Lois let out a peal of laughter "Thanks."

"It was my pleasure really." Carol assured her with all sincerity "So how's your holiday going?"

"Really good, I'll be bringing someone back with me when I return."

Carol's brows rose high "Someone; is it the man you told Anne about a few weeks ago?"

Lois laughed in return "Nope, but I'm not surprised she told you about Clark."

"Of course she told me. You know very well the three of us tell each other everything." Carol chided gently.

"Translation; you'll be giving her a blow by blow account of our conversation at dinner right?" Lois grinned and could imagine her friend poking out her tongue.

"Ha ha, and yep." Carol snickered in return "So...oh hang on Lo, there's someone at the door. If it's Anne, I'll put you on loudspeaker ok?"

Lois heard noises and murmurings in the background, then smiled at the new voice down the line "Hi Lo."

"Hi Anne, how have you been?"

"I've been good. Carol and I have both missed you. We went to see a movie last week, and the shops doing great. So now that we've caught up, let's get back to more important things; namely your holiday and that man Clark you told me about the last time we talked." Anne rapidly replied "Have I missed much?"

Lois snickered and shook her head when Carol answered "Nope, we were just getting to the interesting stuff when you arrived. Lo told me that she's brining someone back with her."

"Who's she bringing; is it Clark?"

"It's not Clark." Carol answered while Lois just continued to smile. She loved her friends, she really and truly did.

"Isn't she seeing him anymore?" Anne asked and felt deflated thinking that she must have read the signs wrong from their last conversation.

"I was just going to ask her that when you arrived."

"I'm still seeing him." Lois called out helpfully.

Anne smiled on the other end "Ok so tell us about this someone that you'll be bringing back with you."

Lois cheerfully yammered about Attila, completely unaware that her soliloquy was just as much about Clark as it was her dog.

Carol smiled hugely at Anne who mouthed "I told you."

Oblivious to just how much she was revealing, and the speaking looks and gestures her friends were making to each other, Lois chattered on, urged by the questions interposed here or there as the women's smiles continued to grow. Both felt glad at hearing the happiness in their friend's voice, a happiness that clearly wasn't only from finding a loveable little dog.

"He sounds cute; I'm looking forward to meeting him." Anne remarked enthusiastically.

"Me too." Carol chimed in readily.

"He's a little sweetie who'll steal both your hearts upon first acquaintance." Lois confirmed frankly "And um Anne, I know that I didn't ask you first…"

"Say no more." She interrupted "We both own the house so you don't have to worry about landlords, and I love animals so you don't have to worry about me either. Attila's more than welcome to come live with us." Anne informed her honestly.

"Thanks, I knew you'd ok about it." Lois replied gratefully.

"Of course." She replied simply before asking casually "So what does Clark think of him?"

Lois rolled her eyes but they sparkled all the same "Well he refers to Attila as the little shit, and Attila growls at him in return and although they pretend not to like each other, you can tell they do."

"Hmmm, ok so bring us up to date on your holiday from the last time we talked." Carol asked next.

"Well..." Happily burbling away, Lois spoke about the people, the town, and what she'd been doing, once again blithely ignorant of just how often Clark's name featured in her discourse.

"It sounds like a nice place."

"It is."

"And the boyfriend sounds like a nice guy." Carol suggested simply.

"You mean Clark?"

"Mmm."

"He's not really my boyfriend he's just...well no you could never label Clark as just anything. He's too everything to write him off as a JUST anything..." Lois broke off and sighed loudly "He's not easily defined."

"Well he sounds nice."

"I don't know if I'd classify him as nice." She grunted loudly before beginning a running commentary about all the sweet, frustrating and downright annoying things Clark had done.

The two women once again shared speaking looks as their smiles stretched from one corner of their mouths to the other. Pointing to the phone Carol mouthed to Anne "She's besotted" who nodded firmly in accord and once again mouthed back "I told you."

"I know, I know but hearing it..." Carol leant over to whisper.

"Do you think we should say anything?" Anne whispered back.

Carol reached over to grab a pad and pen quickly scribbling out "We'll play it by ear and see how it goes." The two women nodded to each other in agreement.

When Lois grew quiet, Anne gestured for Carol to go ahead "Have you had any more visions of you and Clark?"

"Nope, as I told Anne the last time it was a glitch and I must have been right because I haven't had any others." Lois raked a hand through her hair and sighed softly.

"But..." Anne's brows rose at the tone in her friend's voice.

"But what?"

"But something's got you all stirred up so what is it?" Anne put in gently.

"Nothing, I'm not all stirred up." Lois retorted rapidly.

"Lo."

She bit her lip and confessed "One of them came true a few days ago, and you know how that always throws me off stride when it happens."

"How are feeling now; really?" Carol asked quietly.

"I'm fine; I've put it all into perspective so I'm great."

Catching the slight sound of edginess in her tone, the women shared eye contact but decided not to push it.

"Have you had any new ones?" Anne asked casually.

"No."

"Are you happy about that?"

"Of course, Clark's a great guy and I'm enjoying spending the summer with him but...well of course I am" Lois replied swiftly.

"He doesn't sound like your usual type." But then your usual type frequently stinks, both women thought simultaneously.

"He's not, but maybe it was time that I broadened my horizons anyway." Lois agreed placidly.

"Mmm."

"Besides, Clark not being my type isn't a problem." Lois stated defensively "I've only been seeing him for 2 months and it's not like I'll have time to get bored and need to flick him off because I'll be leaving soon and..." She paused and finished quietly "...and he'll be ready to say goodbye then too."

It's the longest relationship of any kind you've had in over two years Carol ruminated to herself before asking softly "Are you falling for him Lo?"

"No of course not!" She retorted swiftly before taking a deep breath and trying again more calmly "I'm not...no...it's not like...no..." She let out a small disbelieving laugh and reiterated firmly "**NO**!"

The women's brows rose higher the longer Lois continued to babble. Anne grabbed the pen, scribbled "liar" on the pad; Carol nodded in agreement before asking carefully "Are you sure Lo?"

"Of course I am, didn't you just hear what I said?" Lois asked pettishly "This is just a holiday indulgence nothing more and when it's over, Clark and I will be over too."

"Sometimes things change." Carol reminded her gently.

"And sometimes they don't." She remarked sadly.

"Should I tell her?" Anne scribbled quickly and at Carol's 'go ahead' gesture informed her friend gently "You talk about him a lot Lo."

"What?"

"Sweetie, in one way or another Clark's featured quite prominently in your conversation."

Lois stared blankly at the wall trying to think of something to say "I...well yes but that's only because he's always underfoot." She finished weakly. At the silence on the other end she blurted out desperately "Truly that's all it is."

"Will you be ok when it's time to leave?"

"Of course I will. You know that I don't believe in happily ever after, and I've been playing the game long enough to understand the rules so I'll be fine." She took a deep breath and smiled cheerfully "At the moment Clark's kind of special, but I'm sure that I'll no sooner leave Smallville than he'll be nothing more than a distant memory."

For the third time in as many minutes the women shared speaking looks. Refraining herself from scoffing out loud, Carol swiftly concurred "Oh yeah I get what you mean. It's incredibly easy to get suckered into believing a fling is all that and more, but we're all smart enough not to let them go to our heads, so I'm sure that once it's over you'll move on."

"Just like always." Lois murmured dolefully.

"Right, and since Clark's not your type then I imagine that a steady diet of him on a daily basis would be too much of a good thing." Anne put in brightly.

"Yeah; too much." Lois muttered low voiced.

Carol smiled and nudged once more "And when you get back the three of us will hit the singles scene together again."

"Oh boy that sounds like fun." She agreed gloomily.

Anne pressed a cushion to her face to hold in the laughter and waved at Carol, who swallowed down her own chuckles to reply enthusiastically "You bet it'll be fun, us three girls out on the town and all those gorgeous available men just there for the picking."

"I can't wait."

At the mournful tone, the laugh she'd been suppressing began to bubble up. Sternly pushing it down, Carol coughed delicately "Sorry Lo, crumb in my throat."

"Crumb from what; I thought you were going out for dinner." Lois asked puzzled.

Coughing again, she leant over and smacked Anne lightly on the leg.

Removing the cushion from her face, Anne opened her mouth to speak, closed it and sternly suppressed the laugh before speaking "We are Lo and if we don't want to miss our reservation then we'd better get going. You take care and we'll see you soon ok?"

"Soon; yeah I guess it will be soon." Lois grumbled cantankerously.

"Wh...what was that sweetie?" Anne choked out and quickly slapped a hand over Carol's mouth.

"Nothing." Mustering up a smile she called out "Bye guys and thanks for calling."

"Bye Lo." They warbled out simultaneously before disconnecting the line and giving into their mirth. When their laughter calmed they sat back and took stock.

"What'd I tell you?" Anne asked smugly.

"Who does she think she's fooling?" Carol asked amazed.

Anne snorted loudly "Us and by the sound of it herself as well." She paused and tilted her head "Do you think she's in love with him?"

Carol thought about it for a moment then shrugged undecided "I don't know if she's there yet, but its damn close if she's not."

"Yeah, I mean her whole philosophy on men seems to have been thrown out the window."

"I brought that up before you arrived, and although we were talking about me, she didn't even mention herself or Clark."

Anne nodded slowly "So either she's avoiding thinking about it, or giving herself reasons for why she's going back on her own words."

"I think it's both. I think she's very carefully trying not to think about _**why**_ she's still seeing him, yet we both heard all the excuses she's giving for why she is and the only reason she'd be doing that, is because she likes Clark a lot more than she realises or wants to admit." Carol summed up neatly.

"I agree, but is that because Clark's made it clear he doesn't want more, or is it Lois' own fears that are holding her back?" Anne ran a hand through her hair and sighed lightly "If she'd told us that he'd asked her to stay for a bit longer just to see how things went between them that would give us some indication that he's likewise afflicted, but she didn't say anything like that."

"If he doesn't realise how wonderful she is and falls for her too then he's a creep and moron, and I'll personally go to Smallville just to tell him that, and then I'll happily slap him." Carol pronounced militantly.

"I'll come too but I won't bother wasting time talking, I'll just kick him in the balls." Anne agreed heartily.

"The way she talked about him though, telling us about the things he's said and done, the way she kept saying Clark did this and Clark did that..." Carol sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear "I think he does like her."

"Me too, so until we know otherwise we'll just be positive ok?"

"Deal." Carol agreed but tapped her chin thoughtfully "She hasn't had any more visions of them together."

"Big deal, usually when she has a vision about some man the same thing only repeats until it's fulfilled and that's it, but she's already had a few different ones about Clark, and knowing Lo she'll take it as a good thing if she doesn't get any more despite the disappointment I heard in her voice." At Carol's raised brows, Anne held out her hand and smiled "She hates getting ones about herself because she feels that the choice is being taken out of her hands. However, even though they're coming true and she's feeling unsettled about it that she's still seeing him instead of running away, so..."

"So whether she has any more or not, it's a win-win either way." Carol finished happily then took a quick peek at her watch "Ok, well we'd better get going or we'll lose our reservation, we can talk on the way."

"Good idea." Anne picked up her purse and stood "Do you wanna go to a cocktail lounge afterwards?"

"Yep; we can decide over dinner which lucky place is going to get our custom." Carol smiled and likewise got to her feet after snagging her purse.

oOo

Tossing down the phone, Lois picked up the book from her lap and tried engrossing herself in the story once more, but ended by slamming it shut and placing it on the bedside table. After patting the pillow into place she scooted down, switched off the bedside light, wiggled around until comfortable and closed her eyes but ended by sighing hugely in irritation 15 minutes later when sleep remained elusive.

Drumming her fingers absently on the bed, she looked up at the ceiling and tried to keep her mind blank, but Carol's question kept whirling through her mind refusing to give her any peace.

20 minutes later and extremely fed up, she growled out loud "Fine! I do like him, I'm smitten; are you happy? Now shut the hell up and let me go to bloody sleep!" Turning over she closed her eyes and having got what it wanted, her mind stayed quiet and she was in dreamland a minute later.

oOo

**24****th**** July**

Figuring that she'd better get the grocery shopping done early, Lois retrieved her purse, car keys and the dog's leash before making her way out the house and down to the back garden then came to stop at the sight of Attila, who was currently lying on his back in the shade of a tree with all four paws outstretched fast asleep.

The little terror seemed to have two modes in life; snoozing and being lazy or awake and active. He'd learnt that she wasn't going anywhere without him for long, so no longer felt the need to stay by her side 24/7 just in case. He still liked attention, still liked being with her but was now happy to keep himself occupied gambolling in the yard, chasing insects around or playing with his toys until exhausted.

Calling out softly she smiled when he awoke, gave his head a shake then yawned and stretched before looking at her in reproof "C'mon boy we're going into town to do some shopping, and when we come back I'll take you for a walk."

Seeing no hint of a limp in the dog's gait when he bounded over to her, Lois smiled happily and bending down, gave his head a quick scratch before leading the way to the car. Returning home an hour later her purchases were put away, a plastic bag and scoop were fetched and the two set out for a ramble around the neighbourhood.

Upon turning the corner into her street on their return, she frowned at seeing a car pulling out of her driveway, and waved automatically when the driver tooted, then smiled when she recognised Anne Beard behind the wheel.

When the car pulled over to the kerb, she stepped over and greeted her friend "Hi."

"Hi, I just popped in to see you but of course you weren't at home."

"I was taking Attila for his walk." Lois supplied then looked down at the animal and back up again "Which I suppose is pretty obvious." Nodding at her house she asked "Do you have time to stop in for a visit now?"

"I'd love to if you don't mind."

"No it'll be great."

"Are you sure, I know it's early for visitors."

"It's almost half past 9." Lois reminded her with a smile.

"I know but that's 9.30am on a Sunday morning, which for some reason feels different to any other day of the week." She nodded in agreement at that, Anne smiled embarrassed "Unfortunately this was the only time I had available since I'll be tied up for the rest of the day and I'm working tomorrow."

"I was agreeing that Sundays feel different not that you're imposing." Lois reassured the woman "I've been up for a while so don't worry about it ok?"

"Ok."

"I'll meet you at the house in a minute."

She nodded, turned the car around and headed back the way she'd come. A couple of minutes later Lois arrived, and after ushering her friend inside the house, she unhooked the dog's leash and sent the beast on his way with a pat "Make yourself at home Anne, I just have to dispose of this stuff and wash my hands, back in a minute."

Several minutes later she returned to find her friend comfortably ensconced at the kitchen table "Would you like a cup of coffee, a glass of iced tea, some ice water, or some fruit juice but I have to warn you, it's the 5 percent juice and 95 percent additives and preservatives stuff; I hate pure fruit juice."

"Any other options?" Anne asked tongue in cheek.

"Hot chocolate or a soft drink." Lois retorted with a laugh.

She giggled lightly and waved her hand "I'll have the iced tea please."

"I've also got an orange cake that I bought from the bakery earlier..."

"Which bakery; the Supermarket or Sieger's?" Anne interrupted eagerly.

"Sieger's of course." Lois replied proudly.

"Get the cake."

At the greed on her friends face she asked tongue in cheek "Want some huh?"

"Yep, where is it?"

Giggling she pointed to the fridge "How about you get a couple of quarter plates, a knife and a couple of forks while I get the iced tea, glasses and the cake?" Happy to do so, Anne got to her feet and after retrieving all the necessary items the two ladies made themselves comfortable at the table.

"So where are the guys?"

"Alan's at home doing some work around the house and Peter's with my parents." Anne supplied cheerfully "Mom and dad got back yesterday after visiting with my sister and her family for a couple of weeks, so they wanted to spend the morning with Peter and I was happy to let them have him."

At her tone Lois cocked a brow in amusement "It's nice to have a break huh?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically "You don't know the half of it. Peter's only two which means that he's really active with energy to spare, so Alan and I are happy to get a break once in a while without having to worry that he's up to no good."

Lois snickered but nodded in understanding. After the cake was cut and dished out and the tea poured, conversation ceased as they both gave their full attention to enjoying the treat before them.

Closing her eyes to better appreciate the taste, Anne murmured "This citrus icing Sieger makes is just divine" and opening her eyes almost sputtered in laughter at finding Lois scratching at the surface of the plate determined to get every last crumb.

At the titter, Lois looked up and grinned at seeing Anne licking her fork clean "Well it seems that I forgot that you were here, and you forgot that you weren't at home."

Anne bobbed her head, set the utensil down and smiled shamefaced "Sieger's cakes can do that to you."

"Sieger's anything can do that to you." Lois corrected candidly "Honestly I sometimes have to walk on the other side of the street until I'm past his shop, because if I just get a wiff of the yummy smells from his bakery I have no control."

"I know." Anne sympathised.

"You want another piece?"

"I'd love one but I'd better not."

"Yeah." Taking a sip of her tea, Lois smilingly confessed "I'm glad you stopped by. I was going to call someone later to ask for their advice, so you turning up this morning is providential." At the women's curiosity, she explained "Clark's asked me to attend the dance with him, and he's told me that all the ladies bring a plate but he couldn't tell me what I'm supposed to bring except to say party food. Can you please tell me what he means by that?"

"Well it's not really party food although some ladies do bring finger food while others bring either hot or cold dishes and others bring deserts." She sipped her tea and asked curiously "What can you make?"

"Burnt toast." She replied honestly. At the chuckle, Lois admitted "I'm not the world's greatest cook. Clark said that he'd help me to make it which is all well and good, but I don't want to look completely incompetent so would appreciate some easy suggestions."

Anne tapped her glass in deliberation "Well why don't you bring a couple of quiches and a potato salad?"

"Are quiches easy to make?"

"They can be fairly simple or extremely complicated."

"I'll make the easy kind; what about the potato salad."

"The most cooking you have to do is boiling the potatoes, and browning the ham. I can give you a few recipes for both if you like."

"Please."

She nodded then sent Lois a sheepish smile "I actually had an ulterior motive in dropping by."

Lois grinned in amusement "I figured as much when you apologised so guiltily for being here on a Sunday morning."

The woman wrinkled her nose making a face at herself "Yeah."

"Its fine Anne, what can I do for you?" She freely invited.

"Well as you know I work for the local council part time and one of my duties entails organising social events and things, one of which happens to be the dance. Anyway, I know that you're into crafts and such so I was wondering if you'd have the time to make some decorations for the hall."

"I'll be happy to help out, do you have any ideas of what you want."

"Not really, the only thing that comes to mind are large rosettes made of tulle strategically placed along the wall."

Lois frowned doubtfully "Yeah I could do that and it's fairly easy, but it might look a bit too wedding-y."

Anne sighed dispiritedly "I know, but we usually just decorate the hall with an abundance of flowers and fairy lights, and although it looks nice this is my first time being in charge of it all, so I was really hoping to make more of an impression than just the usual one."

Lois nodded in understanding "What's the hall like inside?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, we had it painted a few years ago and installed some new lighting but otherwise it's just a hall."

"Can you adjust the lighting?"

She nodded in response.

"And I'm assuming since food is served there are tables for people to sit at correct?"

"Yes."

"Ok well there are plenty of ways to make an otherwise plain hall look great." Lois tapped her chin and remarked thoughtfully "Dim the main lights, and keep both the flowers and fairy lights because they always look beautiful. You can decorate the tables with coloured tablecloths, and also hang swags of material from the ceiling or just long pieces so they look like streamers. Around the edges of the wall place some potted lemon trees with fairy lights strung around them and/or hang some greenery at intervals. Or if you don't like either of those ideas you could use balloons; either helium filled so they float along the ceiling, or tie bunches of them along the wall."

Anne grinned at the ideas tossed out "I like all those ideas."

"Well the first thing you have to decide is what look you want; cute and fun, classy or a little bit of both, and take it from there. If you don't have the time to look yourself, I'm happy to look on the internet to get some ideas, and email you the links of any I find."

"That's ok, the suggestions you've given have been great. After Peter's in bed tonight I'll go on line and hopefully get some visuals on how I want it to look." She smiled appreciatively "The budget for the dance isn't large but since we already have garlands, greenery, fairy lights, candles, glassware, crockery etc in supply, the biggest expense will be the fresh flowers. However I should still have plenty to purchase the material or balloons and any other odd or ends that I need."

"Did you need help decorating the hall?"

"No we're good but thanks for the offer."

"How many people actually go to this thing?" Lois asked curiously.

"Quite a lot; at the beginning of the night the dance starts off somewhat semi-formal with assigned seating etc, but that only lasts until after supper and then people begin table hopping to greet others. Being that it's summer the doors and windows are left open to take advantage of any evening breezes, so you'll have people constantly flowing inside and outside which contributes to making it less restrained and more fun." Anne paused and smiled mistily "Alan asked me to marry him on the night of the town dance 4 years ago, so it's kind of special to me for that reason."

"Really?"

"Uh huh, I'd lived here my whole life, dated my boyfriend all through high school, but he left for college out of state and we broke up about 5 months later." Anne shrugged lightly "When he first left we had the tearful goodbye scene, gave each other the 'I'll love you forever and live only for holidays speech' but when he did come back for a visit it was...awkward. Things had changed but we didn't want to hurt each other by saying as much. I was attending college here in Smallville and had a new life that didn't include him, and he was in the same boat."

"That's only natural; it'd be rare to have any other outcome." Lois smiled in memory of her own youthful feelings for an ex-boyfriend that she'd left behind when her father was re-assigned to a new army base. "I felt the same way about this guy Robbie that I dated when I was 16..." She frowned and shook her head "No not Robbie he hated that, he preferred Robert..." She paused and held up a hand "Or did he hate being called Robert..."

"Maybe his name was Stan and that's why he didn't like you calling him Robbie or Robert." Anne commented politely.

Lois reached out and smacked her friends hand "Leave me alone."

"Well I can tell that he was really important to you." Anne shoulders shook silently.

"Hey at the time he really was." Lois grinned "His name was Robert but I think he preferred being called Rob...or maybe Bob. Oh hell I can't remember and why am I even wasting time with this?"

"I was wondering that myself." Anne snickered lightly.

"Great it's in my head now and it'll probably bug me until I do remember." Lois grumbled and held out a hand "Keep going with your story, it's far more interesting than mine."

Anne grinned and bobbed her head "Ok, well although I hadn't missed my boyfriend terribly..."

"What was his name?" Lois cut in quickly.

"Kevin." She replied rapidly.

"You said that too fast."

"I did not."

"You did but I'll let it slide."

"Thank you; I...oh hell his name was really Kelvin and although I meant to say that, you threw me off stride." Anne admitted truthfully, and took Lois' rude smirk on the chin "Anyway, I can't say that I was particularly sorry we broke up, but it still took me a while to feel ok about dating again y'know?"

"Yeah I do." Lois answered soberly.

"Well after that I went through the usual dating dramas we all go through, and although I liked some guys more than others no one really captured my attention. Then one day 5 years ago Alan arrived in Smallville and my heart just went pitty pat. I don't know why it was him that I wanted I just knew that it was. I know now that he felt the same way, but at the time he didn't act like it. It took quite a bit of patience to convince him that I was sincere, but I got him in the end." Anne laughed lightly "I love my husband, and I know that he doesn't fit the normal definition of what people would consider handsome, but my goodness he makes up for that in stubbornness."

Lois thought of Alan Beard and understood exactly what her friend meant. Alan was quiet, unobtrusive and homely. He didn't have the looks to turn a women's head, or the charisma to set their hearts fluttering. Anne by comparison had an outgoing, gregarious personality that would draw people to her side, and the prettiness to attract male eyes her way.

They were so different that the first time she'd seen them together Lois had wondered what it was that drew them to each other, until she'd turned to address Alan with a polite comment and found him looking at his wife in an unguarded moment. She knew then that regardless of how shy or taciturn Alan Beard was with most people, he adored his wife and all the passion that she'd previously thought didn't exist in him was very much there, and exclusively reserved for Anne.

"He wondered why you were attracted to him right?" Lois asked outright.

"Oh yeah, the fact that I'd been a cheerleader in high school and college didn't help. He figured that I was just toying with him because aren't all cheerleaders just empty-headed, heartless ditzy bimbos." She remarked sarcastically before asking outright "Where on earth do people get these ideas from?"

"From TV shows and movies which stereotype them that way." Lois replied sympathetically.

Anne made a rude sound then carried on "Well anyway what made it even worse was that his ex-girlfriend pretty much told him his lack of looks were a turn off and dumped him for a better looking guy. In my opinion that just makes her a shallow cow, and even though he knew that deep down it still hurt and the experience had stuck with him all the same."

"Was she an ex-cheerleader at school too?"

"Nope, but she probably didn't have time for extracurricular activities, since she was busy being a full time bitch." Anne replied with a sneer.

Lois laughed in appreciation "So how'd you convince Alan that you were serious?"

"Well we started seeing each other, and by the way that only happened in the first place because I kept making up excuses for asking him out. So the upshot was that in my mind we were dating but he was opposed to us being labelled a couple which just frustrated and hurt me, and then one day out of the blue he suddenly announces he's leaving Smallville and I had enough. No more nice Anne, no more patient Anne, and no more taking whatever crumbs he was offering Anne; I just wasn't having it. So I told him to give me 5 minutes to throw some things in a bag and I'd be ready to go too." Lois laughed out loud and Anne smiled hugely in the re-telling "I told him straight out that wherever he went that I was going too and there was no point in thinking that I wouldn't find him because I would, and then give him hell for thinking he could ever leave me behind."

Anne smiled softly in recollection "That's when he confessed that he loved me, and boy did that make me mad. That was the first time he'd ever said it, and then he ruined it by saying that he was leaving because he was serious about me, but wasn't sure if I really wanted him forever or was just in it for fun etc etc. Well I asked him straight out, exactly what part did he think was fun for me in throwing myself at him so brazenly only to be rebuffed time and again? That stopped him cold, and it also stopped his nonsense. A week later we were on our way to the dance when he pulled the car over to the side of the road and whipped out the ring. I said yes before he could even ask."

"Good on you." Lois cheered heartily.

"Thanks; one thing Alan didn't consider is that cheerleaders have to train really hard to always be on top of their game, so I just put all that determination I used to have for being on the squad into getting my man." She finished smugly and grinned wider at Lois' giggle "What about you?"

"Boyfriends you mean?"

At her nod, Lois rolled her eyes "More than I care to remember. Some were nice but it just didn't work out, a few of them were just huge mistakes, but overall..." She paused and added "...yeah it hasn't been good."

"What about Clark?"

"Well he's certainly been the pick of the bunch in recent years." She admitted with a grin.

"You look good together." Anne remarked honestly.

"Well I know that I'm not ugly so there's no point in pretending otherwise, and Clark's gorgeous and he knows it..." The two women snickered lightly "So looking good togethers not saying much, since good looking people usually do."

"True, but that's not what I meant."

"Oh."

Anne's lips lifted in a half smile when Lois shifted uncomfortably "If he asked you to stay would you?"

She sighed heavily in indecision "I can't say that I wouldn't be tempted but I don't know. At the moment everything's great between us, but that's just the nature of a summer romance. They're not meant to be long term soul searching relationships, just good times that make you smile with long term memories, but they rarely last when autumn comes around."

Anne nodded slowly in agreement "That's true, I had a couple of flings before I met Alan so I know what you mean, but maybe in yours and Clark's case things will be different."

"I think you're just a romantic." Lois accused softly.

She sipped the last of her tea and smiled complacently "Maybe, but here's something for you think about. There are a number of single men in this town and sometimes they come to the dance stag and at other times they bring a date. However when their date is a lady who doesn't live in Smallville, they don't tell them the usual practice is for the women to bring a plate, and I'm including Clark in that."

Knowing exactly what the woman was implying, Lois ignored the urge to clear her throat and shrugged offhand instead "I'm sure he only did so because I lived here previously so I'm not really a newcomer."

"By small town standards you are." When Lois' opened her mouth, Anne held up a hand forestalling her "Firstly, you only lived here for 2 years and that was 15 years ago. Secondly, you're family hasn't lived in Smallville for generations nor did you grow up here, and thirdly, you've only been back for less than 2 months and will be leaving at the end of August. So at best you'd normally only be considered a visitor in our town."

Lois wiggled uncomfortably "Well I'm sure that Clark's only treating me with the same familiarity that he would anyone else he knows."

Anne smiled knowingly "Hmm, you mean anyone else that he considers part of the community and not an outsider."

"No, I mean that even when I first met him years ago he never treated me with the aloofness of a stranger, so it's not as if anything's changed now." She laughingly protested.

"You don't say, years ago huh; curiouser and curiouser." Anne remarked blandly.

Lois felt her cheeks turn slightly pink "Stop it."

"You might also want to cast your mind back and recall that when you told me Clark asked you to bring a plate, I didn't politely tell you that it wasn't necessary." Anne grinned at the stumped expression on her friends face, and reached over to pat her arm "You've been adopted by all of us Lois which means we consider you one of our own; and I know that I'm speaking for a number of people when I say that."

"Thanks." Her heart warmed at the sincerity in the woman's voice. Deciding it was time to turn the conversation from the sentimental to the practical before she embarrassed herself by turning into a watering pot, Lois cleared her throat softly "Um speaking of Clark, do you know any quick and easy dinner recipes?"

"I thought you couldn't cook."

"Well strictly speaking I can cook, but whether anyone would actually eat what I dish up is another story." She admitted with a grimace "Add to that, cooking isn't something I take any pleasure in but I figure that I have to be fair and at least try to feed the man once in a while."

"Alan doesn't mind cooking and I'm glad because I don't like it either so I get where you're coming from." Anne smiled in understanding "But I can give you some ideas for things which I make when it's my turn and they're fairly easy to do."

"Easy's middle name; wait..." Lois held up a hand "...that didn't come out right, but you know what I meant."

Anne giggled but nodded all the same "Yeah I do, ok well there's baked chicken which takes very little preparation time, and then you just put it in the oven and leave it until it's ready. Or you can make a casserole, tacos, enchiladas, hamburgers, a stir fry, devilled sausages, homemade pizza and other things like that."

When Attila trotted from the lounge room into the kitchen to sit pointedly next to his food bowl and yip, Lois grinned at his overly broad hint, and after obediently tossing in some kibble she refilled his water bowl before retaking her seat.

Anne tilted her head and looked the mutt over "He's looking much better than when you first found him."

"He's doing a lot better now." Lois leant down to give the mutt a hearty scratch when he came to her side clearly expecting one, then smiled in amusement when he promptly abandoned her upon spying one of his toys on the lounge room floor. "I'm lucky my lease allows me to keep him with the proviso that I have to pay for anything he damages." Gurgling out a laugh she shook her head "The only thing he's interested in chewing on besides his toys are Clark pants leg, and I'm pretty sure that going by the look on Clarks face he'd like to chew Attila's leg in return; they actually enjoy growling at each other."

"So their like sparring partners who are both vying for the girls attention."

"Hmm, I'm not sure if I'd classify them as sparring partners or comrades in arms." Lois rolled her eyes "They'll growl at each other and bug each other, but when I tell them to pack up their nonsense, they don't pay any attention to me so it's like I'm not even there."

Anne giggled at the mental picture her words conjured up, and opened her mouth to comment, but hearing the soft chime from the lounge room, she checked her watch and reluctantly got to her feet "I'd better go, I told Alan that I wouldn't be long and if I'm not home soon he'll worry something's wrong."

The two women made their way out the house and came to a stop beside Anne's car "Thanks for the suggestions about the hall."

"You're welcome, and thanks for yours on the cooking suggestions." She smiled in return.

"You're welcome." Anne repeated before slipping into her car, and leaving with a wave.

Returning to the house Lois set the kitchen to rights, before heading towards the shower. It wasn't even 11am and she felt hot, sticky and sweaty. Stepping out of the shower she sighed richly in pleasure at the cool fresh feeling a cold shower on a hot day felt. Once dressed in shorts and t-shirt, she combed her hair and clipped it up before making tacks back to the lounge room. Taking a seat on the couch she switched the fan onto high, closed her eyes in delight at the air blowing over her skin but frowned at the thoughts that began to whirl through her mind.

A little over a week ago Clark reminded her that summer was more than half over. Her chat with Mavis a few days ago reminded her forcibly that time was running out. Last night her first hounded her with talk about how soon she'd be back in San Francisco then afterwards harassed her with plans for hitting the singles scene when she got back, and today Anne Beard was asking if she'd stay in Smallville should Clark ask her to.

Really, did people have nothing better to do with their time than stare at the calendar all day long, and then talk to her about how fast time was going by? She was on holiday and didn't need that kind of aggravation.

Opening her eyes, Lois looked over to find Attila attacking his toy "You know what boy, I'm not getting any peace at home. Clark's not expecting us until 12.30 but why don't we go now before anyone else can bother us?"

Attila just growled and gnawed harder on his toy.

"Great." Figuring that was answer enough, she pushed up from the couch and after swiftly locking the back door, packed up her sewing kit, picked up her purse, and car keys then whistled softly. When the dog looked up with the toy dangling from his jaw, she laughed lightly "Come on you can bring it with you, or you can play with the other toys you have at the farm."

Attila stretched long and lazily before scampering after her to the door with the stuffed toy flea clenched protectively between his teeth.

oOo

Hearing a car pulling up outside, Clark looked out the kitchen window saw Lois and checked the clock. She was nearly half an hour early. Since she was never early, hardly ever on time, and was in fact usually late, his brows rose in surprise. Either she was very hungry or extremely eager to see him.

Well his cooking was good but would she turn up early just to eat it? Possibly she did like to eat. Then again she had called him hot stuff once so maybe it was him she wanted; hmmm. At the thought his lips curled up in a smirk and when she pulled a case out of the boot, his smirk turned into a beam of delight.

Quickly turning the stove down to low, he raced over to swing open the back door with a flourish "Welcome, welcome."

Lois smiled and stepped inside "Thanks; Attila's making himself at home outside by wandering around and sniffing the garden."

"That's nice, so..." Rubbing his hands he asked eagerly "What nightie did you bring? The lacy one, the silky transparent one, the one with the ribbons at the side, the one that looks like a sexy see through short dress and has a lacy bra part up top with tiny matching panties…" He confirmed as an aside "…that one's my personal favourite by the way or..."

Lois coughed before cutting in to admit "I forgot to bring one."

"You forgot." Clark face fell before he howled indignantly "How did you forget something so important? Didn't I make a point of telling you to bring it? Do I need to start sending you text messages? What's your problem woman?"

She bit her lip and tried to hold back the laughter "It's not really necessary..."

"Are you kidding?" He asked flabbergasted "You can't spoil a guy by wearing those things and then just take it all away from him like it doesn't matter. That's as cruel as telling a kid there's no Santa Claus." He pointed to the case in her hand "What's in that?"

"My sewing stuff."

Clark folded his arms and frowned fiercely "I see, and I bet you brought something for the mutt too."

She shrugged uneasily "Well yes but that's only because he was already chewing on his toy when I was leaving so..."

"So you made sure to take care of yourself and the dog, but forgot about me." He cut in ruthlessly.

Lois giggled but cleared her throat when he frowned harder "I forgot; what do you want me to do?"

He took the case out of her hand, placed it on the island tried to hurry her towards the door "Go home and get one, there's a good girl."

She refused to move and swung around to enquire "Is it me you want or just my sexy nighties; because if it's the latter then I'm happy to buy you doll that you can dress up."

"I want you in the nighties."

"You don't even let me wear them for long."

"That's not the point."

She threw up her hands in defeat "Fine, I'll go home later and get one; happy?"

"Yep." Feeling more than satisfied, Clark waved at the fridge "Lunch will be ready in about 15 minutes, but in the meantime help yourself to a drink."

"I like the way you didn't offer me anything until after you got your own way."

He grinned unrepentant "Get me a beer while you're at it."

Rolling her eyes, she poured herself a glass of wine, got him a beer then made herself comfortable at the kitchen table.

After checking the roast and spooning the juices over it carefully, he stood back up and reached for his beer "So how come you're here early?"

Lois sipped the wine and shrugged "I kept getting disturbed by visitors and phone calls so thought I'd better leave before the next wave came in."

"What'd they want?"

"Who?"

"All your visitors?"

Lois coughed and admitted sheepishly "There was only one."

"Who was it?" Clark asked politely.

"It was Anne Beard; she just dropped round to see me."

His lips twitched "And how many phone calls did you get?"

"Well actually…." She shrugged and coughed again "…none. My friends back home called me last night just to say hi."

"Well I can now understand why you wanted to get away from that flood of people who were clearly making your life hell." Clark snickered lightly.

Feeling stupid, she smacked his arm "Leave me alone."

oOo

_After lunch_

Once the kitchen had been cleaned and put to rights, Lois reclaimed her case and took a step towards the living room.

"Ah hem."

At the sound, she swung around with lifted brows.

"Nightie."

"Can't I at least sit down for a little while and relax before you kick me out to go and get it?" She asked politely.

Clark pursed his lips and nodded reluctantly "Fine."

"Thank you." She turned to once again step into the lounge room.

"Ah hem."

Swinging around, she waited patiently.

"I took care of lunch which you enjoyed correct?" She nodded, he inclined his head in return "Well dinner's your department so what are we having."

Lois gawped at him in astonishment "How can you even think about food when we've just eaten lunch?"

"The same way that I can think about having sex the second we're finished." He returned promptly.

Reaching out she swatted his shoulder and frowned "Do you mind it's Sunday, you shouldn't talk like that."

Clark grunted loudly in disbelief "I don't remember you caring about it being Sunday when I was nailing you last Sunday morning."

Lois coughed delicately "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you want me to remind you of all the things you said?"

"I wasn't quite myself." She replied and crossed her arms defensively.

"And you won't be yourself tonight when I make you shriek those words again." He smirked in return.

"I don't think I'll be in the mood tonight I can feel a headache coming on." She replied sulkily.

Clark quickly stepped over to the top kitchen cupboard and began rooting around. Smiling triumphantly, he came back and handed her a packet "Here you go."

Lois looked down then back up at him "Aspirin."

"Yep, I wouldn't want that headache to get any worse." He laughed and with a jaunty wave stepped outside the kitchen.

Huffing lightly that he'd gotten in the last word, Lois watched him walk outside the door with the dog trailing after him and shook her head. There was no point in giving her aspirin since he was her headache.

oOo

_Almost Two hours later_

Enjoying the quiet and solitude, intermingled with the distant sounds coming from outside, Lois happily kept herself occupied with sewing and lost track of time.

Hearing a cough she looked up to find Clark standing in the alcove to the kitchen pointedly tapping his watch "It's now almost 3.15pm."

"So?"

At the blank look on her face he grumbled quietly in his head and decided to change tactics "So would you care for some afternoon tea?"

At the almost pious expression on his face, her antenna quivered. He was up to something she just didn't know what. Deciding to wait and see she nodded gamely "Yeah that sounds nice, what have we got?"

"We've got a lemon sponge cake with fresh cream, and you can have some coffee or if you prefer iced tea." He paused and tacked on sweetly "I know how much you like iced tea and cake so made sure to have both."

"Thanks." Lois set aside her sewing, got up and stretched then followed him into the kitchen "Where's Attila?"

"Outside asleep in the garden."

While he cut the cake, Lois poured them both a glass of iced tea after which the two made themselves comfortable at the island. Forking up a bite of cake she brought it to her mouth, but didn't get to eat it before Clark remarked out loud "It's so nice when a man's thoughtful and remembers to give a woman the things she likes isn't it?"

"Mmmm." Lois agreed and raised the fork again.

Looking at her from the corner of his eye, he watched her mouth open and decided it was time to engage her in conversation again "It's the little things people do for each other that mean the most."

Lois nodded obediently, and waited for him to speak a third time but when he instead scooped up some cake himself, she sighed happily in anticipation and brought the fork to her mouth only to drop her hand when his voice intruded once more.

"Let's talk about things we both enjoy doing; I'll go first." Clark asked and answered without giving her a chance to say anything "Ok, well one thing I really enjoy doing is looking up words in the dictionary. Recently I looked up reciprocity and found that it means co-operation, mutuality, give and take; r e c i p r o c i t y." He pronounced slowly then looked at her with winged brow "It's just another way of saying 'I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch mine' don't you think'?" Lois stared at him blankly wondering if he had a point. Undaunted he nodded and tapped his chin "Exactly, like when you ask me to babysit Attila I'm happy to do it, and when I asked you for...hmm now what little thing have I asked you for lately?"

The light clicked on causing Lois to sputter in laughter "I promise to go and get the damn nightie as soon as I've finished ok?"

Beaming happily, he popped the bite of cake in his mouth and waved his fork in the air "Don't do it on my account, I was just making conversation."

"Sure you were."

When she didn't say anything else, he frowned and coughed delicately "Dinner."

Her eyes swung sideways, saw the angelic look on his face and rolled to the ceiling "And I'll get dinner."

"Oh sorry did I say that out loud?"

"Yes and I got the message." She replied dryly. She waited for a beat then asked politely "Can I now enjoy my cake in peace?"

"Of course enjoy." Smirking he applied himself to his afternoon tea and when finished got to his feet "I'll be working in the barn if you need me ok?" Lois nodded and scooped up another bite of cake, but stopped when Clark came back and quietly placed her purse and car keys beside her plate.

"I'm going." She told him wearily.

"Finish your cake and tea first." He insisted kindly before leaving the house.

oOo

_4.30pm _

Bringing the car to a halt, Lois switched off the ignition, retrieved the bag of groceries, and a small travelling case from the boot of her car and walked towards the farm house then came to a stop at finding Clark and Attila relaxing in the kiddies pool on the front lawn.

Since it hadn't been there when she'd left an hour earlier, she could only surmise that Clark had set it up while she was gone. Walking forward she grinned at man and beast, both of whom looked cool, comfortable and she had to admit, really cute.

"Hey you're back."

"Uh huh; and it's nice to see that while I've been running around between the supermarket and home the two of you have been hard at work."

"It's the weekend." Clark replied lazily before stretching out his arms on the sides of the pool "So what'd you think?"

"About what?"

He tugged down his sunglasses minimally and waggled his brows at her "Do I look hot enough for you to jump?"

She burst out laughing and shaking her head set her burdens down on the steps before coming back to stoop beside the pool and run her hand over the animals head "You look like your having fun?"

Attila let go of the rubber ball he was gnawing on, licked her hand and woofed before rolling back and forth in ecstasy while trying to recapture one of the toys bobbing in the water.

"I should have gotten him one of these already." She murmured fretfully.

"Babe, you've never had a dog so didn't think of it." Clark reminded her gently "How about I set this one up at your place tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the mutt clearly enjoys it so why not." Sliding his fingers over her thigh Clark smiled invitingly "Now why don't you get your clothes off and come join us."

"I don't have my swim suit here."

"So what; your underwear should do the job."

Her nose wrinkled "Yeah, but I can't sit around in wet underwear for the rest of the day."

"Then use one of my t-shirts."

"Ok, but first I'd better go and put the groceries away." Getting to her feet, she picked up the bags "Do you want something to drink?"

"Beer please."

"I'll be back in a minute."

Stepping inside the kitchen, she placed her burdens down on the island and after putting the food away in the fridge, picked up the small case that she'd packed which contained everything a woman could possibly need for seduction.

Clark had been so sweet with her last night that he deserved to be rewarded for it, and that was precisely what she was going to do. Tonight it was her turn to take care of him but she wasn't going to be sweet about it, she was going to be wicked. Humming in anticipation she carried it upstairs to his bedroom, before swiftly removing her clothes and tugging on one of his red t-shirts.

oOo

_5.30pm _

Lolling beside Clark in the pool, Lois smiled drowsily while watching Attila roll and splash about in the shallow water "He really loves this."

"Hmm, see so this pool of mine which you ridiculed turned out to be a good thing."

"It did indeed." She agreed and pressed her lips to his cheek in thanks "Anyway I'd better go inside and get dinner ready." At his nod, she got out of the pool and after making her way to the front porch, pulled off the t-shirt before wrapping one the towels she'd slung over the banister around her body "I only need half an hour so that's how long you guys have got left to enjoy yourselves in there."

"It'd be cooler if we eat in the pool."

"We're going to eat at the table like normal people." At Clark's dramatically loud groan, Lois compromised "Ok, we'll eat outside on the front patio deal?"

"If you insist."

"I do, and also insist that you help me to carry the food out to the patio."

"Managing female" He muttered grouchily.

"I heard that."

"Big ears."

"I heard that too." Lois called again.

Giving up Clark waved airily "We've still got half an hour."

"28 minutes." She corrected and stepping into the house, made her way directly to the bathroom for a quick shower, before heading to the kitchen.

oOo

_6pm_

"C'mon it's time to get out."

At the dog's whine, Clark frowned "Hey buddy I'd prefer to eat dinner in here too but Lois thinks it's uncouth, so we're going to eat at the table like civilised people do." At the bark he nodded "Yes I know you're a dog but if I have to suffer then so do you."

Ignoring the animal's growl, Clark scooped up the beast and stepped out of the pool when his cell phone dinged.

"Hello."

At the sound of Oliver's voice, he prayed that it wasn't an emergency, swore silently but richly at finding out that it was and replied "I'll be there in a couple of minutes" before clicking off.

Now what in hell was he supposed to do? He had to leave but didn't know how long he'd be, and couldn't tell Lois to go home without sounding like he was dismissive unless he could give her a reasonable excuse, and he didn't have time to make one up. Growling under his breath at the fix he was in, he picked up the dog and made haste towards the house then groaned when Lois opened the back door to call out cheerfully "Dinners ready."

Unable to think of any excuse for why he had to leave so suddenly that sounded even halfway decent, Clark continued to mentally toss ideas around while climbing the stairs and wished that freezing time was one of his powers. After setting the Attila down on the landing, he looked at Lois with raised brows "Great I'm starving; has it been served up?"

"Nope we're going to eat on the patio remember, so it's strictly self serve tonight." She noticed that he was still wet, looked down at the dog and suggested "Ok well you two first need to dry off, so I'll start carrying things out to the table on the patio while you take care of Attila and yourself ok?" Lois replied and stepped inside the kitchen.

"Sure..." He grabbed a towel, swiftly dried down the dog and x-raying the house to keep Lois in sight, waited until she stepped out the front door then called out loudly "Hey Lo, I just remembered that I have to do something in the barn that I should have done earlier, I'll be back soon." Bolting upstairs he threw on some clothes and flew out the window muttering "I hope."

oOo

"But..." Lois called back and stepped back inside, but not seeing Clark anywhere just shook her head "Surely it could have waited."

At Attila's woof, her frown turned into a smile at seeing the dog sitting pointedly beside his bowl "Ok I get the hint."

After taking care of the animal, she continued to carry the food and various items required for a meal out to the table while wondering what was so important that it couldn't have waited until after dinner. When he hadn't re-appeared by the time she was finished, Lois opened the back door, glared in the direction of the barn and growled "Don't forget dinner Lois, it's your turn to make dinner Lois, I expect you to feed me Lois, and now he can't even be bothered to come in for dinner."

Thinking he was being addressed, Attila looked up and barked before sticking his head back into his bowl.

At the rumble of her tummy she gave it a pat "Ok, whatever he's doing is going to have to wait. I'm really hungry so I'm going to get Clark and drag him to the table by the ear if necessary."

Trudging out to the barn, Lois called Clark's name and at the answering silence, huffed in annoyance before making her way up to the loft. Looking around she could see bags of fertilizer, farming tools and equipment, but no Clark. Shrugging she made her way back to the house, looked upstairs and downstairs before returning to the kitchen and talking to Attila "I thought he might have walked in the front door just as I walked out the back, but he's not here boy."

Attila whined and put one paw on her ankle.

"C'mon we'll go together, and at least this time I'll have your doggy nose to lead the way." Pulling open the back door, she held it aloft for the animal and stepped out after him.

Returning to the house 35 minutes later, Lois called out Clark's name a few times, tapped her foot and grunted when there was no response "I'm not waiting any longer, Clark can eat when he gets back from wherever."

oOo

_10.15pm_

Clark closed the front door at his back, zipped up stairs to have a shower and change clothes then came down to the kitchen and saw the note propped up on the island.

Shit!

Lois. If he'd had the luxury of time to make any kind of reasonable excuse for calling their day to an abrupt end he would have done. However as time had been a commodity he didn't have, he'd hoped that when he told her he'd only be a short time that it was true. Well as that had been several hours ago, and she'd no doubt noticed his absence he wondered just how pissed she was, and what it was going to take to get back into her good graces.

He hesitated for a beat before picking up the note, and taking a deep breath scanned the missive:

_Thanks for a fun day; Attila and I had a ball._

_I wish you'd told us that we were playing hide and seek before dinner though because we didn't even realise it at first. We did try to find you; we searched high and low all over the farm and through the house but came up blank. You'll have to tell me where your hiding spot is._

_BTW; I did bring the nightie you like best. The one with the short see through dress, the lacy bra top and the tiny matching panties; mmm hmm, THAT ONE!_

_I left your dinner in the fridge; and I don't want to hear one word of complaint!_

_Lois._

Stepping over to the fridge, he pulled it open and saw the cling wrapped plate with the selection of cold meats and three different salads all crowded together.

Laughing out loud he closed the fridge, looked at the clock and debated for a moment before reaching for phone and tossing it back down, grabbed the keys to his truck and left the house.

oOo

At the knock on the door Lois smiled evilly. She knew exactly who that was going to be. Hushing Attila when he began barking, she took her time walking slowly from the lounge room to the front door and called out softly "Who is it?"

"Me."

"Me who?"

"Clark."

"Who?"

"Lois!" He growled in a low voice.

"Who?" She repeated sweetly.

His head dropped in defeat. Oh yeah she was going to make him sweat alright "I'm sorry babe."

She unbolted the door and swung it open "Well hello."

He reached for the screen door handle and jiggled it a bit before looking at her patiently "Are you going to open this?"

"Wellll..." She drawled contemplatively but when he jiggled it again, she sighed loudly before giving in. The second he stepped inside the house, she poked him in the chest "My cooking's not so bad that you had to run away from home you know."

"You didn't even cook it; you were just dishing up the stuff you bought from the supermarket." He retorted automatically then winced. Oh good one Clark, Lois just gave you the perfect opening for why you disappeared and instead of taking it and playing along you...grrrr...moron.

Slipping an arm around her waist he ushered her into the lounge room only to stop when the dog scampered over and grasped the bottom of his jeans leg with his teeth "Attila I don't have time to bug you, I have to dig myself out of a hole with someone else first."

The dog ignored him and continued growling while tugging.

"Did you eat the dinner I left?"

"Nope, I came straight over here."

"Do you want some now?"

He looked at her, noted that she wasn't in the least angry and let out a silent sigh of relief. Almost immediately his eyes narrowed "Why aren't you pissed? Why are you being nice so to me, and why are you letting me off the hook so easily?"

Unfazed at the rapidity of his questions, Lois lifted her fingers and began to tick them off "I'm not pissed so be grateful about it and don't question it further." He nodded she inclined her head "I'm being nice because I am nice." When he snorted, her brows rose in challenge. Scowling Clark shrugged half-heartedly in agreement, and in return she smiled and finished complacently "And I'm letting you off the hook because I intend for you to make it up to me."

"How?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well I figure you can either take me out for dinner or make it for us."

"I make dinner most nights." He supplied punctually and once again felt like smacking himself in the head. This was the second time in as many minutes that she was giving him an out, and the second time he'd just put his foot right in it.

"Well ok then..." Lois continued smoothly "You can also buy me some flowers, and I want the good ones not the cheap rubbish you pick up at the gas station."

"And that's all? You don't expect me to explain where I've been?"

"You mean to say we weren't playing hide and seek." She smiled and batted her eyes teasingly.

This time he was smart. Leaning down he smacked a kiss on her cheek and with a mild wide grin riposted "Yeah, and you're lousy at it."

Giggling she patted him on the back before walking into the kitchen to make him up a plate of cold meat and salad, while he stayed busy playing tug of war with the dog.

oOo

After finishing the meal, Clark picked up his beer and sipped then looked at her directly "I am sorry Lois. I was heading back to the house when I saw my neighbour's truck coming down the driveway so I ran up to meet him. He needed some help with one of his animals so I went with him and just got tied up. I didn't intend to be gone for long or to forget to call you but with one thing and another..." he trailed off and left it at that hoping it would be enough.

"Is the animal ok?"

"Yeah."

She smiled at that, knew he was lying but really didn't care.

She hadn't left the farm until almost 8pm and that was only after she and Attila had gone looking for him again without success. Admittedly she'd felt completely stumped as to why he'd taken off in such a hurry that he'd left on foot instead of using his truck, but she hadn't felt either hurt or angry about it. She'd been worried, and although she'd been tempted to ring a few people to ask if they knew where Clark was, she'd hadn't entertained the idea for longer than a few minutes knowing all that would have accomplished was causing both her and Clark embarrassment simply because he'd disappeared for a couple of hours.

And since she understood what it was like having to make up excuses for why she just happened to be in the right place when people needed help due to the visions, she didn't feel the need to make an issue of his absence or to make him feel bad for it. More than likely while she was out someone had called urgently asking for help, and had asked him not to say anything for private reasons. So instead of making tracks to the barn as he'd told her, he must have run up the road to meet whoever was waiting, so by the time she went looking for him, he was long gone.

Whatever the real reason for his disappearing act, Lois knew that it would have been a good one. He'd asked her to spend the day at the farm, and had laughingly hinted for her to get dinner and nightdress at afternoon tea time, so it was only logical that whatever caused him to leave had been unexpected for him, and not personal against her.

However since she'd gotten used to his audacity, she _had_ been expecting Clark to show up tonight, and wouldn't have been surprised to find him banging on her door if he didn't get home until midnight. As she'd also become familiar with his impudence she likewise hadn't been surprised by the look of determination to be heard on his face, but had felt gratified at seeing it mingled with the 'what the hell do I say to get out of this' expression he'd been trying to hide.

Seeing the flittering expressions on her face, none of which showed anger he sighed lightly and asked outright "So we're ok?"

"Of course, I'm just glad that it all worked out." Lois smilingly replied.

When he picked up her hand and kissed it, her mouth fell open in surprise.

Clark grinned at the flabbergasted expression on her face and leant over to peck her cheek.

"I still expect the flowers." She warned him lightly.

He chuckled in response but nodded in agreement.

"And no sex, it's too late."

He pouted but decided it couldn't hurt to push his luck "Can't you at least put the nightie on so that I can see you in it."

"You've already seen me in it; you're just hoping to cop a feel." She corrected swiftly. At the discomfiture on his face, her lips curved "And just so you know, I had a whole thing planned for tonight and I promise it would have left you smiling for a week, but now you'll just have to wait for another time."

Clark swallowed hard as his imagination went riot "What kind of thing?"

Her lips curved even more but she refused to say.

Sighing heavily he pushed back from the table "Right, well now I'm really in the mood to harass the little shit before I leave."

Taking a step into the lounge room Clark bent down and growled loudly. Attila let go of the toy he was assaulting and looked up. Likewise rising, the animal's ears pricked up, his teeth bared in snarl and then he was yapping for all her was worth.

Lois rolled her eyes and let the two of them have at it.

oOo

_Back at the farm_

Clark climbed out of his truck, looked up at the stars and shook his head in awe. When he'd gone to see Lois he'd been determined not to leave before having his say. While driving to her house he'd decided that no matter how angry she was that he wasn't going to let it ruin their relationship. He'd been expecting her to give him hell. He'd been prepared for that and more. He'd anticipated being faced with pique, silence, yelling or having to crawl on his belly for forgiveness, instead she'd taken the wind right out his sails by her teasing. Then she'd given him dinner and the most she expected as an apology was a bunch of posies and a meal.

She was some kind of woman, she really was.

Looking at the house, his mouth lifted in a huge smile. He'd enjoyed the day. He'd really liked knowing that Lois was in his house doing whatever, while Attila kept him company outside, and he wanted more days like it.

Digging out his phone, he pressed the speed dial button and waited for the line to connect "Hey baby it's me."

"Didn't you just leave?"

"Uh huh, but I wanted to run something by you."

"What's that?"

"Well I was thinking that maybe you and Attila could spend next weekend at the farm with me."

Lois paused before asking cautiously "You mean stay for the whole weekend?"

"Yeah, I really like having you both over here today, but as I'm not going to have much free time before Friday at least, if we plan for the weekend then it should be safe." He could hear the gears turning in her mind, and knowing what the problem was, tried coaxing a little more "You can sleep in mom's room if you want and I promise not to peek."

"Can I think about it?"

"Yep, and while you're thinking about it I want you to remember something else."

"What's that?"

"I owe you for having to leave today, so you can get back at me by hanging around and telling me off for dumb stuff." He smilingly replied.

Lois chortled in laughter "See now that's the argument you should have given me in the first place."

"Well I figured that'd tempt you more than my body does." He grinned into the phone.

Lois felt her smile widen even more "I'll think about it, promise."

"Ok." Clark waited a beat "I'll see you."

"Yeah see you."

Hanging up he sighed and tapped the phone thoughtfully against his palm. She'd sounded cheerful but he had the feeling she was going to say no. He didn't know why precisely he just did. Figuring that he'd given it a shot, Clark shrugged and walked into the house.

When his phone rang several minutes later, he clicked it on and at the sound of Lois' voice his brows rose in surprise "Hello."

"Hi it's me."

"Hi."

"Hi." Lois cleared her throat "Um...yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I'll spend next weekend at the farm but only if I can sleep in your mom's room."

He crossed his heart and smiled hugely in response "Done, and I promise not to try and change your mind afterwards."

Lois grunted rudely "Oh I'm sure that you will, but you have to promise not to crack the shits when I don't give in."

He laughed out loud "I may get shirty, annoyed, exasperated and peeved but not shitty."

"It's the same thing." She retorted with a laugh.

"I'll be a perfect angel."

"Right!" Lois drawled in disbelief then yawned hugely "Excuse me; ok well I'm going to sleep now so I'll see you ok?"

"Mmm, good night babe." Clicking of the phone, he flicked off the kitchen light and smiled while heading up to bed.

oOo

Lois clicked of the phone, turned off the night light and snuggled down.

She'd intended to say no, had tried to think of all the reasons why it wouldn't be a good idea, and at the top of that list was knowing that Clark would try to coax her into sleeping with him if she stayed for the weekend, but all of her rational arguments had been nothing compared with the memory of just how caring he'd been with her the previous night when she'd felt sick.

He hadn't been annoyed that their fun and games were called to a halt, nor had he left her to her own devices and made an excuse to leave. He'd held her while she threw up, had cleaned up the toilet afterwards, had cradled her carefully and had insisted of helping her in the shower. Then afterwards he'd made her a cup of tea, and had even teased her from the embarrassment she'd felt about it all.

Some people wouldn't consider that much to write home about. Clark would probably say that he'd only done what was practical, and they'd all be right on the face of things, but it was her opinion that mattered, and to her it meant a lot.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi everyone

Thank you for all the feedback and kind words, it's nice to know people enjoy my writing.

I classify this chapter as a bridge that was needed to take them from where their relationship was, to where it will be in the future. My sister says it's a simple read but more than just a bridge, so I'll let you make up your own minds and see what you think.

Anyway I hope you all like it.

Linda

oOo

**29****th**** July – 2pm**

At the ringing of the phone Lois languidly stretched out her hand to pick it up from where she'd tossed it on the grass before climbing into the kiddie pool beside Attila. Her brow furrowed in annoyance when the instrument remained elusive to her searching fingers but at the cessation of noise, she sighed happily and went back to dozing, only to scowl when the ringing began again a few minutes later. Muttering under her breath, she opened one eye long enough to spot the phone and hoping the call would be brief, clicked it on "Hello."

"Hi babe…" At the sound of Clark's voice she allowed her mind to glide into sleep mode and missed the remainder of his sentence "I'm on my way to pick you up and will be there soon ok?"

"Hmmm."

"Are you all packed and ready to go?"

"Uh huh." She wiggled to get more comfortable, and sighed in pleasure at the cool water on her hot skin.

"Good then we don't have to waste any time."

"Mmm."

Finally picking up that she was only making noises and thus not paying any attention to him, Clark growled impatiently "Lois!"

"What?" She groaned annoyed.

"Are you packed?"

"Packed for what?"

Resisting the urge to bang his head on the steering wheel, he growled "To spend the weekend at my place."

"No..." Yawning hugely, she stretched and settled more comfortably "...see you later ok?"

"Don't you dare hang up!" Clark hollered irate.

At his bark she sat up with a jump and came fully awake at last "What on earth are you yelling for?"

Counting to 10 slowly, he tried once again "I'm yelling because you're not listening to me."

"I was napping and you woke me up." She snapped crankily.

"You can sleep tonight for now wake up and get moving."

"Moving for what?"

He bit back the retort that leapt to his tongue, and holding onto his patience by his fingernails clarified "To come and stay at my place for the weekend."

"I thought I was supposed to be coming over tomorrow?"

"No you're coming today; I thought we discussed this."

"We did and you said that you're busy until Friday, so I figured you meant from Saturday." At his irritated growl she finished triumphantly "Besides you didn't mention it last night…."

"I didn't mention it last night because I thought you knew." He gritted out patiently.

"How was I supposed to know if you didn't mention it?"

"Oh for…." Breaking off he swore fluently in his head and swinging the truck into her driveway turned of the ignition "Right I'm here. You have 10 minutes to pack and then we're going." Not giving her time to reply, he switched of the phone, climbed out of the truck and made his way into the house.

Not hearing any activity inside, he strode into the kitchen and looking out the window saw Lois standing in the pool with a look of frustration on her face. Feeling the same way in return he pulled open the back door and bellowed "move your ass."

She looked up, saw him standing in the doorway with a scowl etched on his face and screeched back "I'm coming." Stalking towards the house she thumbed over her shoulder "you can drag Attila out of the pool while I pack" and stomping up the stairs angrily made her way inside the house.

Muttering under his breath, he likewise stomped to the laundry and grabbed one of the towels Lois had set aside for the beast before making his way to the backyard.

oOo

5 minutes later after what he could only assume was a thorough telling off from the dog, Clark stalked into the bedroom "Are you ready?"

"Does it look like I'm ready?" Lois sniped sarcastically and dumping a handful of clothes into the bag on the bed, walked to the bureau and yanked open the top drawer "Why are you here so early anyway?"

"We finished up quicker than expected..." He looked at his watch and pronounced "You have four and a half minutes left and then I'm hauling you out of this house whether you're ready or not."

"I'm not going anywhere without my things." She replied militantly while deciding which nightie to take.

"What things?"

"Things!" She repeated firmly. Having made her selection, she tossed it on the bed before pulling open the second drawer to decide on lingerie "And I still have to pack Attila's things."

"Attila's got plenty of things at the farm, so the only thing he needs is his doggy bed which I'll grab on the way out." Clark replied swiftly, and picking up the nightdress from the bed announced "Not this one."

"What's wrong with it?"

"I don't like it."

"Why don't you like it?"

"It's not..."

"Not what?" She took the nightie from him, held it up and shrugged "It's pretty."

"Yeah, but it's not..." He began to gesture with his hands then gave up with a quick head shake "You're not going to sidetrack me with a discussion about sleep wear."

"You're the one who started it not me." She reminded him.

Striding over to the bureau he nudged her out of the way and pulled open the top drawer. Pushing aside several bits of filmy material, he picked one out and handed it over "this one."

"What's wrong with the other one?"

"I like this one better."

Figuring it wasn't worth the hassle she tossed it on the bed and asked sarcastically "Wanna pick out my underwear too?"

"Yeah, maybe that will get you moving faster."

"I was kidding."

"Too bad." He shot back and slamming the top drawer closed began rifling through the lingerie, pausing long enough to toss over his shoulder "Hurry up and get your things together."

"I still have to shower and dress."

He looked at his watch then at her "You have 3 minutes and 20 seconds left, so if you intend to have a shower then you'd better be quick."

"I can't have a shower that fast."

"Then you can wait until we get to my place and have one there."

Lois looked at him astounded "I'm not driving around in my bikini."

"I live 10 minutes away and the odds are good that no one will see you."

"No."

"Then find something in your cupboard and slip it on."

"I'm not putting on clean clothes for a 10 minute drive to your place, and then wearing another set of clean clothes after my shower."

"It's only a 10 minute drive so just wear the same damn clothes after your shower." He gritted out between clenched teeth.

"My bikini is wet so they'll get wet." She retorted in a like manner.

Scowling he stripped off his shirt then his t-shirt and tossed it to her "How's that."

"I'm not wearing your t-shirt, yuk." She replied and tossed it back.

"What's wrong with it?"

"You've been wearing it for hours working in the sun."

"I put it on less than 30 minutes ago after having a shower before coming here." He snapped and tossed it back before slipping his shirt back on.

"Oh..." She gave it a suspicious sniff before tugging it on then promptly made an 'ugh' face "It's sticking to me."

"Tough." Tossing the nightdress and underwear in the bag, he zipped it closed despite Lois' wailing protest that she wasn't finished packing "You have clothes in here right?"

"Yes."

"Shoes?"

"Yes."

"Do you intend to put your makeup and any other paraphernalia that you can't possibly live without in here too?"

"No, I'll pack that in my..."

He waved her to silence "Then this bag is good to go."

"But I may not have the right clothes or shoes."

"You're spending the weekend at the farm Lois not going to Buckingham Palace to visit the queen, so I'm sure that what you've packed will do." Placing his palm in the middle of her back, he ushered her out of the bedroom and came to a stop at the bathroom doorway "Now pack up all the junk you need from in here, while I go put this bag and Attila's bed in my truck."

"But..." Since he was already striding down the hall she called out loudly "But I might forget something really important and..."

Clark swung around and pointed "Get moving or you'll be leaving without your makeup and hair stuff."

"Why are you being so damn highhanded?" She asked incensed.

He strode back, stopped in front of her and growled "If you'd packed earlier then you wouldn't be so grumpy about having to do it now, and I wouldn't have to push you into hurrying up."

"I'm grumpy because you didn't mention that I was supposed to be coming over today and now you expect me to run around and be packed in a minute..."

"I gave you 10 minutes." He corrected and was roundly ignored when she just continued "...and if my not being ready is what's made you so crabby then it's your own fault for not telling me." She finished heatedly.

"I'm pissed not crabby and that's because I'm pretty sure the real reason you weren't packed isn't because I didn't remind you, but because you were hoping to come up with an excuse for getting out of staying at the farm altogether." He replied bitingly.

When her lashes fluttered nervously, his eyes narrowed "You _**were**_ going to welsh weren't you?"

"No I was just..."

"You little coward." He cut in quietly.

At the accusation Lois angled her chin defiantly and silently cursed the red that she knew was on her cheeks "I'm not a coward."

His eyes narrowed further "I'm not letting you off the hook Lois. You said that you'd stay at the farm this weekend, and you're going to stay at the farm this weekend."

"Maybe we could..."

"No!"

"You didn't even hear my suggestion."

"The answer is still no."

"We haven't even left my place yet and we're already fighting, which defeats the whole purpose of a fun weekend from the beginning don't you think?" She shot out exasperated.

Clark set the bag on the floor and stepped forward crowding her up against the wall. Cupping her chin in one hand, he kept his eyes steady on hers "We'll stop fighting when you stop trying to make me lose my temper so that'll I'll let you off the hook about staying with me this weekend." When her face flushed deeper, his lips twisted derisively "The tone of this weekend is entirely up to you Lois. We can spend the next two and a half days making love or war. I'll be happy to accommodate any mood you want us to adopt, but we'll be spending it together and that's not negotiable; clear!"

Hearing the conviction in his voice, and knowing that he wasn't going to let her back out, she silently cursed her wretched tongue for saying yes in the first place. Trying to save what little dignity she had left, she tried to counter attack and was summarily shot down "I'm not trying to pick a fig..."

"Yes you are." He stated resolutely. At the resentful look she threw at him, his brow rose in challenge "What's it going to be baby?"

"I'll let you know later but for now..." She pushed against his shoulders and glared when he refused to budge "...I have to get the rest of my things together."

He nodded slowly and leaning down captured her mouth in a hard kiss before freeing her and looking at his watch "You're ten minutes are already up, but I'm going to be extra generous and give you two more minutes..."

"Generous but..."

"And if you're not ready to walk out of this house by the time I come back, I'll pick you up and carry you out so you'd better get moving." Clark finished decisively and picking up the bag at his feet, strode off down the hallway and out the house.

"I'll take two damn hours if I need to." She yelled challengingly. However, not wanting to take the chance that he wouldn't do as threatened, she quickly pulled her beauty case from the vanity cupboard and swiftly packed up her makeup and perfume before fetching her toiletries bag and sweeping all the necessary items into it.

At the sound of the front screen door slamming, Lois rushed from the bathroom into the bedroom to grab a few more items and in her haste bashed her toe hard against the bed leg.

"Ohfuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit." Literally seeing stars, she sat down and held her foot carefully.

"Are you ready?" Clark called out and not receiving any answer strode past the bathroom into the bedroom before coming to a halt at the sight of Lois sitting on the side of the bed with her face pressed into her knee, cradling her foot.

"What happened?"

Not wanting to cry even though her toe was hurting big time, she sniffed once then sniffed again before looking up "I banged my big toe."

Even though he'd never had personal experience with that kind of injury, he knew from others just how painful it could be and his mouth turned down in sympathy "Aw babe I'm sorry."

"You made me do it."

Biting back a chuckle at both the illogic of her statement and the petulance in her voice, he accepted responsibility by not refuting her charge, and instead crouched down in front of her "Let me have a look". When he reached out, she pulled back and clung onto the foot for dear life refusing to hand it over no matter how gently he tried to coax. After his third failed attempt to capture the appendage, Clark looked up and growled "Lois, give me your foot."

"It hurts."

"I just want to look at your toe."

"Promise you won't touch it."

"I might have to touch it a little…." At her head shake, he sighed and ran a hand around the back of his neck "…just a fraction." Her head shook harder "Alright I won't touch it at all, I just want to look at it."

She sighed and placed her foot in his hands gingerly.

Clark x-rayed to see if any bones were broken, sighed silently in relief at finding none, and winced in sympathy at swollen flesh that was already showing some discolouration "Well you certainly gave it a good hard knock."

"I know."

"Can you wiggle your toe?"

"I don't know."

"Try."

"I don't want to try."

"Just a little is all I mean."

"I don't care what you mean I'm not doing it."

"Lois, just wiggle your damn toe already."

"It'll hurt."

"Well it will hurt a lot less if you try it now then if I haul you to the doctor and he starts poking around on it." Clark threatened in exasperation.

Her eyes glared daggers but she twitched her toe slightly.

"Again."

Muttering under her breath, she waggled the digit carefully.

"So how does it feel?"

"How do you think?" She sniped nastily.

"I think it's past time someone put you over their knee and gave you a paddling." Clark mumbled low voiced.

"What did you say?" Lois asked suspiciously.

He looked up and replied innocently "I asked _how much_ does it hurt?"

"Hmmm." She looked at him sceptically then gave in with a sigh and admitted grudgingly "It hurts a lot but it could be worse I guess."

"Good." He patted her knee companionably and smiled "Now where do you keep your first aid kit?"

"Why?"

"Because I want some gauze to wrap around your toe."

"It's not bleeding so it doesn't need gauze, a bandage or a bandaid." She replied swiftly.

"I want to wrap it to the next toe, so the big one can't move." He informed her patiently.

"For you to wrap it means you'll have to touch it..." She tugged her foot out of his hand and clasped it protectively "...and that's not going to happen. You keep your hands away from my toe."

"Lois if it's broken..."

"It's not broken, just sore." She corrected adamantly "I've had a broken toe before and I know what it feels like. This is not broken."

Since he knew she was right, he tried a different track "Alright, but it doesn't have to be broken to bad Lo, and this looks pretty bad. If you knock it again you'll be in a lot of pain, at least if it's bound it will have some cushioning."

"No."

Giving in he held up his hands in surrender "Fine, then try taking a few steps just to see how bad it is."

"I know how bad it is without walking on it."

"Lois..."

"Don't you Lois me, I'm not walking on it and that's final." Placing one hand on Clark's shoulder for balance, she got up slowly, took a little hop and announced militantly "This will do for now and after it stops throbbing I'll limp around if I have to, but I'm not walking on it and you can't make me." Turning, she hopped towards the door, wobbled and slammed her hand onto his head to remain upright "Sorry."

He nodded automatically she wobbled and yelped again, her fingers dug into his scalp while his hands latched on to hips to keep her steady "Are you ok?"

"Yes, but don't move your head again." Blowing out a soft breath, Lois loosened her grip "Um, I'm sorry for pulling your hair."

He'd only felt a light tickle so it wasn't a problem, but figuring it was time he payed her back for giving him a hard time, Clark clasped her hand in his and rose to his feet "That's ok; it's not the first time you've nearly pulled it out by the roots and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"What? When have I ever?"

He only answered by opening his eyes wide and when the red in her cheeks bloomed, figured that she'd worked it out.

"That's different."

"It sure is, you're growling at me then too but I enjoy it a whole lot more." He replied facetiously.

Usually she'd be happy to play along with him, but the pain in her foot was becoming impossible to ignore. Biting the inside of her cheek to keep a cry from escaping, Lois ducked her head and swallowed hard "Yeah...um let's just go ok?"

Frowning at the uncharacteristic response he nodded slowly in agreement "Alright but why don't you let me carry you out to my truck Lo. If you try to hop down the front steps you could fall and really hurt yourself?"

Wanting to fall on his neck in gratitude for the offer, she restrained herself and instead shrugged offhand "ok."

He swung her up into his arms and strode out the bedroom.

"Clark."

"Hmm."

"I want something for the pain."

At the hitch in her voice he looked down and felt his heart flip then melt at seeing the wobbling chin, the trembling lips and the eyes which had been full of defiance a minute ago were now glassy with tears "Where's your first aid kit babe?"

The tenderness in his voice was almost her undoing. Her lower lip jutted out and quivered in betrayal while her mind screamed at her furiously not to give in to the weakness of tears. Swallowing heavily she replied in a small voice "In the kitchen cupboard left of the sink."

"Do you have a cold pack?"

She nodded, and pressing a kiss against her forehead, he strode back to the bedroom and set her down gently on the bed "I'll be back in a second."

The moment he was gone she patted under her eyes with the tips of her fingers to wipe away any moisture, let out a few shuddering breaths and sternly lectured herself not to be a baby about a stubbed toe when she hadn't cried over far worse injuries, all the while fighting against the urge to get of the bed and kick it in retaliation. Feeling pleased with herself for not giving into the former, and proud for resisting temptation with the latter she rested back against the pillows, and wondered if she should yell out for Clark to bring the booze instead of medication.

oOo

Zipping into the kitchen to grab what was needed he turned to go back to the bedroom then paused and looked at his watch. Figuring that at normal human speed a person would take approximately 2 minutes and not 2 seconds, he rolled his eyes and waited impatiently for the time to pass. Tapping on the face of the watch he peered closer to see if the thing was working, held it up to his ear and heard the light ticking sound then looked at it again while mentally yelling at it to hurry it up already.

Resisting the urge to pace around the room, he wondered how on earth humans could stand doing everything in slow motion. He could have flown around the world and back by now, hell he could have crawled around it faster, in fact he could have walked around it on his hands and still have time to spare.

"C'mon you bastard" Shaking his arm in frustration he kept his eyes on the minute hand, muttered "About freaking time" when it finally moved past the 12 the second time and grabbing the items sitting on the table hastened back to the bedroom.

oOo

After wrapping the ice pack in a tea-towel he placed it gently over the swollen area of her foot, and grimaced when she instinctively recoiled with a hiss "Sorry."

"It's ok."

"Do you want me to take you to a doctor?"

"No, the pack will take some of the swelling down and the tablets will take the edge of the pain off so I'll be fine." After downing the tablets, she closed her eyes wearily "Let me just lie here for a few minutes ok?"

"Yeah, I'll go and make sure Attila's alright. He was rolling around on the grass when last I saw him."

She nodded and clenched her teeth against the pounding in her foot hoping it would be soon be gone.

Returning 20 minutes later Clark once again felt his heart stir at the vulnerability on her face. "Are you awake Lo?"

"Yes."

Carefully removing the pack from her foot, he pursed his lips at the sight. On the one hand he was relieved the swelling had reduced, but didn't like the bruising that was even more evident "How are you feeling, and be honest."

Lois opened her eyes and felt her heart shift before righting itself. He was doing it again; his tenderness before had almost caused her to ball her eyes out and now he was looking at her with such sweet concern that she wanted to crawl into his lap and curl up like a kitten.

Wishing that he'd snarl at her again so she could tell him to shove it, she wondered what it was about Clark Kent that made her feel this way. Years ago the only desire he inspired in her was to give him a good wallop for annoying her, now he inspired a variety of desires in her and although punching him was still high on her list when he was being a pain, the urge to fuss over him afterwards was just as strong. Either there was something seriously wrong with her or...

"Lo?"

At his prompting she came back to the present and seeing the concern on his face, sighed hugely. There he was; the man who made her want to kiss him for being so caring. "Sorry I was thinking about my foot and how it's feeling a lot better now. Well it's almost numb from the cold, but my toe isn't throbbing so much, so I figure the positive outweighs the negative and I..."

oOo

He was unsurprised at the babble that issued forth knowing that Lois could never give a one word reply, but wondered how he'd never noticed how adorable she was while blathering on. He enjoyed listening to her prattle but...hang on...what the hell?

He didn't use the word adorable; that was a sissy word. When thinking about Lois he used to think about her great body, her fantastic breasts, the wild crazy monkey sex they'd engaged in, and yeah ok so he did still think about those things, but lately he was also thinking about her smile, her eyes, the way she laughed, her conversation and...good grief; her conversation! This is where being sweet on someone led you. It led you into thinking about her conversation instead of how perfectly her ass fit into your hands while you screwed her against the wall.

Ah well, the news wasn't all bad. When Lois was a biting scratching little wildcat who showed him no quarter in the sack, or when she was sensuous sultry little vixen, or hey anytime he got her naked or even partly naked he couldn't give a rats about her conversation, so at least he wasn't completely losing it.

"...so after all that I feel a lot better; honest."

"I'm glad." He replied simply when she finally ran down, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Clark."

"Yeah."

"My bikini's still wet and you put me on the bed, so now the beds wet too."

"You just can't help yourself can you?"

"What?"

Instead of replying he shook his head and pressed his lips to hers "The bed will only be damp at best, so I'm sure it will be dry by the time you get back on Sunday night."

"That's not the point." She began primly but broke off to grab him by the ears and pull his face closer to hers "Sorry for biting your head off before."

"Which _before_ in particular are we talking about?" He asked cordially.

Her lips twisted in rueful acknowledgment "I don't like pain, so when I feel it I tend to get a little pissy."

"Ahhh, we're talking about that before..." His mouth quirked up at the corner "Well I have a little confession to make; I kinda enjoy it when you get snarky with me."

She smiled slightly, fought against her conscience for a second then gave in "I also have a confession to make; you were right."

"I frequently am." He announced proudly, and accepted her smack on the arm with lopsided smile "And what was I right about this time?"

Ignoring his nonsense she reluctantly confessed "I really didn't know that I was meant to stay at your place today, but I was going to make up an excuse for why I couldn't make it tomorrow."

"I know, and I meant what I said."

"About what?"

"That I wasn't going to let you get out of it." His mouth crooked up at the corners "If you didn't come willingly I would have picked you up and carried you out."

"Bully."

"Or I would have kidnapped Attila knowing that would get you to my place toot sweet."

"Thief."

"Determined" He corrected with a small smile, and saw an answering one tugging at her lips.

"I think my two minutes are up."

His smile grew "They were up a while ago but that's fine."

"Thanks."

"No problem, I'll just tack on any time we've lost at the end of the weekend." He finished by patting her hand solicitously.

"What?"

At her frown, he frowned back "Well, on Sunday night when you tell me it's time for you to go home, I'll just remind you that on Friday you were running behind schedule and you still owe me an hour."

"Where'd you get an hour from, it hasn't been that long."

"Interest." He retorted snottily.

Lois giggled and smacked his lips with hers "we'll then we'd better go so that I can start paying off my debt." She finished and held out her arms in anticipation.

"What's all this?" Clark asked waving at her outstretched arms.

"Lift." She replied hopefully.

"You're not going to insist that you're more than capable of walking out to my truck without help?"

"Nope, now lift." She repeated and waved her arms for good measure.

"Why?"

"Unh…" Since she had no intention of telling him that she'd very recently discovered a liking for being carried in his arms, her eyes flew around the room helplessly, while her mind churned furiously for an answer.

"I'm waiting." Clark sing-songed.

And there he was, the man who just begged her to slug him. Unable to come up with anything, she shrugged feebly "No reason."

"I'm sure there's a reason and I'm also sure that I know what it is." Clark smirked and folded his arms "You need my help, admit it."

As lying about that was easier, she nodded "I need your help."

"Because…" He taunted sweetly.

"Because…" Once again she tried to think of an excuse and once again came up empty. She'd resisted kicking the bed leg in retaliation, she'd resisted crawling into his lap, but she wasn't a saint damn it and she wanted him to carry her. Why did he have to make everything so difficult?

"Well."

Feeling more than a little harassed she let out a snarl and grabbing him by the shirt front, hissed "You're getting on my last nerve buster. Now stop giving me the shits and act like a fucking gentleman before I clobber you one."

"You have such an elegant way of expressing yourself." He laughed delighted and slipping one arm around her waist and the other under her legs hoisted her up into his arms "Let's go." Striding out of the bedroom and down the hall he once more came to a stop, this time when Lois clamped her hands on the bathroom doorway and screeched.

"Now what?"

"My stuff, I can't leave without my makeup and hair stuff."

Clark's eyes rolled to the ceiling "Clearly you're feeling a lot better if you can remember that junk."

"That junk is important."

"Fine, I'll put you in the truck first and then I'll come back and collect your stuff ok?"

"Ok but..." She took one hand of the doorframe and pointed "I need both the beauty case and the toiletries bag."

He nodded patiently "Got it."

"And be careful with them, that stuff cost me a ton."

"Yes dear."

"Also grab my hairdryer; it's in the top drawer of the vanity."

"Hairdryer; check."

"And be careful with it because I can't get another one like it that would be half as good." At his impatient sigh Lois figured that unless she explained he wouldn't understand "I saw it advertised on the shopping channel one day and was kinda suckered by the demonstration and the elaborate words they used to describe it but after trying it out myself, I think they undersold it. I should have bought two at the time but who'd think they'd need two before even trying the first one. Anyway the upshot is that I can't buy a replacement from the shops because it's sold exclusively through the shopping channel and they've sold out so y'know...just show it some respect."

"Urrrgggh." Clark gargled out, feeling that was the only expression he was capable of expressing at the time.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

After settling her in the car, he scooped up Attila who'd given up on them and decided to take a nap under a tree in the front yard, and after depositing the beast on Lois' lap, Clark headed back inside. Zipping through the house he ensured that everything which had to be turned off or locked was done, and grabbing the last three items locked the house before heading for his truck.

oOo

_Later that night – Kent Farm_

Sitting on the couch with her head resting on Clark's shoulder, her foot resting on a cushion on the coffee table, and her fingers running softly over Attila's belly as he lay snoozing beside her, Lois laughed as the credits of the movie rolled up on screen "You gotta love Beverly Hills Cop."

"Yeah, it never gets old." Clark agreed and titled his head down to grin "You want a snack."

"I could eat." When she began to push herself up, he shook his head "I'll get it, you stay here."

When Attila woke up and hopped off the couch, she shook her head in return "I'll take him outside while you get our snacks."

"He doesn't want to go outside; he wants food and knows that I'm getting it." Clark grunted in amusement when the dog trotted into the kitchen and sat beside his bowl.

Seeing that he was right, she giggled "Well I need to have to use the ladies anyway so I'll be back in a minute."

Using Clark's arm for leverage, she hauled herself up and hobbled to the bathroom and returned several minutes later, to join the guys in the kitchen "Need any help?"

"Nah I'm good." Clark replied and cocked a brow "How's your foot?"

"It's starting to hurt again."

"Sit!"

Not bothering to argue she took a seat at the table and smiled in thanks when he pulled out one of the other chairs and placed her foot on it. The smile slid off her face when he retrieved the ice pack.

"Not again."

"Yep." Ignoring her grumbling, he wrapped the pack in a tea towel and gently set it on her foot "Next time be more careful."

"Next time don't expect me to pack in 10 minutes."

"Next time be ready and I won't have to." He retorted without missing a beat.

Scowling in response but refraining from saying anything more (at least out loud), she contented herself with a disparaging sniff and ignored his satisfied smirk.

After setting the sandwiches, drinks, potato chips and quarter plates on the table, Clark took a seat opposite "After we finish this, how about I turn the lights off and put on another movie, but this time it'll be something crappy so we can spend our time necking instead of watching the screen."

Since her mouth was full Lois waved in agreement. At the soft whine from Attila she looked over at the dog then at Clark "This time he does need to go outside."

"You're a pest." Clark declared loudly to the beast and didn't know whether to laugh or not when the dog woofed demandingly in return. However, not wanting any accidents in his house, he got up and after turning on the porch light opened the door "I take it you don't need my help from here."

Since Attila had already scrambled outside and down the stairs, he figured all was good and turned to re-take his seat but paused at Lois' voice.

"Do you have any pain killers?"

"I grabbed the ones from your medicine chest." He retrieved them and some water "Are you feeling alright Lo?

"Yeah, but I think the tablets I took earlier are wearing off because my foot's starting to hurt quite a lot." She took the tablets then shifted in her seat uncomfortably "How much longer does the ice pack have to stay on for?"

"Give it a few more minutes."

"Fine." Blanking out the discomfort she continued eating supper, and sat back content 10 minutes later. "Do you mind if we leave the necking for tomorrow night, the tablets have made me a little drowsy."

"That's fine I'll just add it to your tab." He frowned in thought "Let's see, you already owe me an hour for running late earlier, and now you owe me some full on inventive sex to make up for the lack of necking tonight."

Slapping a hand over her mouth, she yawned and asked sleepily "Interest again?"

"Yep." Noticing that her eyelids were fighting to stay up, he removed the pack a carefully "The applications of ice have helped Lo, but it still looks pretty bad. Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?"

"I'm sure; the doctor will just tell me to keep doing what I'm doing and take it easy which I'm planning to do anyway. In a few days my foot should hopefully look and feel better." She wiggled her toe and winced at the accompanying pain "You know, it's only when something's out of commission or hurt that you realise how much you take it for granted."

"I take it your referring to your foot?"

"I'm referring to everything." She corrected "Like when I had the flu last winter, I forgot how much I take swallowing for granted until I had to do it, and my throat felt like it had been cut open with razor blades, or when I get a tiny speck of dust in my eye and it feels like there's a huge boulder in it."

Clark smiled in commiseration and felt grateful that he wasn't a victim to such human frailties.

She gratefully clasped onto his outstretched arm, and hoisting herself up hopped towards the stairs.

"Do you want me to carry you up babe?"

"No I'll be fine." Lois answered and felt inordinately virtuous for not giving into the temptation of screaming 'yes, yes, yes'.

Making her way slowly and carefully up the stairs she stopped at the top to catch her breath and looked at Clark "I forgot about Attila."

"I'll call him in but let's get you into bed first." Restraining himself from picking her up, he slipped an arm around her waist and the two made their slow careful way into the master bedroom.

Flopping backwards onto the bed she sighed heavily in relief, mumbled "goodnight" around a yawn, and was out for the count.

Unwilling to leave her as she was, Clark carefully hoisted her up and after removing her shorts, t-shirt and bra, peeled back the bedclothes and laid her down then grabbed the spare pillow and placed it under her foot.

Brushing his lips against hers, he left the room but kept the door open in case she should need him during the night.

Making his way downstairs he called Attila, who upon hearing his voice abandoned sniffing around the yard and came scampering back into the house. The dog ran into the kitchen, then the lounge room and back to the kitchen again but not seeing his favourite person anywhere sat down and let out a plaintive woof.

"She's upstairs asleep." Taking the pointed finger as his cue, Attila bounded up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

Walking into the room 10 seconds later he shook his at seeing the mutt attempting to climb up the bedcovers. Picking up the beast he returned to the kitchen and set the dog down on the floor beside his bed which had been set up near the stove "This is where you're sleeping tonight." Attila looked at his bed and whined pitifully, looked at Clark and saw him pointing at the bed resolutely, and with a half hearted growl sulkily climbed in.

Satisfied that he'd won Clark washed up the supper dishes, locked up the house and turned for the stairs then paused when the dog shot out of his bed and over to him "Your bed is over there remember?"

Attila woofed and leapt up the stairs undeterred. Zipping up after the beast, he scooped up the dog, walked into his bedroom and closed the door. Taking a seat on the side of the bed, he looked the mutt in the eye "Listen up; I know you're used to sleeping in the laundry at home but since you're not used to sleeping at the farm you want to sleep with Lois. Well the last thing she needs is to be hobbling around in the middle of the night and possibly hurting herself just to let you out to answer the call of nature. So tonight you can sleep up here with me, but tomorrow night it's back to your own bed in the kitchen; comprende!"

Hearing the tone of authority Attila's ears flattened and his head ducked down. Feeling like a brute, Clark patted the dog's head "tomorrow night I'll put your bed at the end of the hallway up here so that you're close to us, deal?"

At the wet tongue swiping over his hand he grimaced but took it to mean the animal was in agreement. Climbing into bed a minute later, he turned on his side and automatically Attila scooched in close and curled up in the crook of his tummy "don't get comfortable because one day soon Lois will be sleeping with me, and I'll feel no remorse about kicking you out."

Attila yawned loudly in reply, Clark smoothed a hand over the animals back and muttered "I don't get it; she's just across the hallway sleeping like she doesn't have a care in the world. She doesn't even think it's necessary to stay awake to shoo me out of the room in case I try to sneak in." He turned his head and scowled at the door in "She trusts me; what the hell's wrong with her?"

He was in the midst of grumbling about women who trust too easily when the horror of the situation finally penetrated "Oh gees it's not her, it's me. I don't know whether I've gone soft or just soft in the head but I didn't even contemplate sneaking into bed with her because I knew she'd be upset with me and I didn't want her to be upset with me. I don't mind pissing her off and I can handle it when she yells, but I don't want her to look at me like I'm pond scum."

Attila snuffled and snored, Clark closed his eyes and yawningly grumbled "What a come down; I was hoping to sleep with Lois and end up with her dog instead."

oOo

_Next Morning__ – 8am-ish_

Feeling hot and uncomfortable Lois threw off the bedcovers and kicked them away then groaned at the blast of sunshine pouring through the open window and onto her face. Wishing that she'd taken the time to close the blinds the previous night, she rolled over, buried her face under the pillow and drifted back to sleep.

oOo

_8.30am_

Unable to escape from Attila's unusually loud barking outside her window, Lois sighed and threw the pillow of her face. She loved her dog but right now she wished that he'd put a sock in it. When his barking became more frantic she gave up with a sigh and sitting up, scowled in the direction of the window before looking critically at her foot.

The discolouration wasn't pretty, but that wasn't always a good indication of how sore something was. Giving it a gentle poke she winced, wiggled the toe and winced again. Well it was still sore but it wasn't as bad as yesterday and would feel better again tomorrow. Figuring that was as good as she could hope for, she pushed up from the bed and hobbled into the bathroom.

After taking care of the essentials and brushing her teeth, she hobbled into the shower and 30 minutes later opened the door to find Clark leaning against the wall opposite.

At the burning in his eyes her tummy wobbled "Um hi."

"Hi."

oOo

Hearing movement inside the house at long last, Clark lifted Attila to eye level and pledged solemnly "Ok, you've done your part and I promise to do mine later by going to the butcher as promised." Giving the dog a pat, he took the little terror's disgruntled howling in stride and after setting him on the ground watched the beast trot off before zipping inside the house.

Zooming around he got everything ready before taking up position against the wall waiting for Lois to emerge from the shower. He didn't know if he was an idiot or a masochist for asking her to stay the weekend, but he did know that last night had been pure torture.

Just knowing that Lois was only across the hall had been more temptation than any man should have to endure. Three times he'd peeked in on her to ensure that she was sleeping well and it had irked to know that while he was fighting against the desire and conscience to join her, she was sleeping like a baby. But he'd come through the ordeal with flying colours by not giving into his baser instincts to slink into the room, slither into the bed and crawl right on top of her and to his mind, he deserved a medal for that.

He hadn't woken her up this morning...ok he'd tried and failed twice, but the third time was the winner. Teasing Attila unmercifully so the dog kept barking outside her bedroom window had been pure genius and he was more than happy to keep his end of the bargain to get the beast the promised marrow bone from the butcher. Now all he needed was for her to hurry up and finish her shower. Hearing the taps being twisted off, he settled more comfortably against the wall.

The door opened, a roil of moist perfumed air rolled out and his eyes flared at seeing her wrapped in a towel and nothing else.

"Um hi."

"Hi." He straightened up, smiled slowly and advanced a step closer.

"What are…I mean were you waiting for the shower?"

"Nope."

"Oh...well did you want something?"

"No I just came to see how you are." He replied gently.

"And that's all?"

"Mmm."

_Liar, liar, pants on fire__, _Lois sang silently before accusing outright "I don't believe you."

"That's because you're smart." He laughed softly.

She giggled nervously and took a sliding step to the left while judging the distance to the master bedroom, but at his voice her eyes flicked back to him.

"You'll never make it."

"Where's the safe zone?"

"Nowhere."

"Clark!" Lois laughed in protest and shuffled slightly to the left.

Noticing her crab like moments to the side he put one hand high on the wall beside her head to effectively stop her retreat, and after a moments deliberation offered "If you make it to my mom's room your safe."

Lois flicked her eyes down the hallway again and silently groaned. She'd never make it.

"Where's Attila?"

"He's outside so you'll get no help from that quarter."

She nodded slowly in understanding "You planned this."

"Oh yeah."

She took a tiny step to the left as far as his raised arm would allow, and lifted her brows haughtily "Please move out of my way."

"Trying to put me in my place with disdainful politeness?" He smilingly mocked.

She sniffed, refused to comment but he saw the mirth in her eyes before her lashes quickly swept down.

His lips crooked up at the corners "Well I guess that I should accommodate your request since you're going in the right direction..."

"This is the way to your mom's room." Lois swiftly interrupted to remind him.

"Mmm..." he leant forward to whisper "...and mine."

"But if I get to your mom's room first I'm safe?" She asked in confirmation.

He inclined his head minimally, removed his hand giving her free passage again and took a step back but kept his attention focused on her.

Feeling deliciously excited but refusing to admit as much, she proclaimed loudly "You're not allowed to pounce."

"Oh I'm going to pounce." He promised low voiced.

"What about my foot."

He looked down and noticed her heel was resting on the ground keeping the foot elevated "Is it hurting?"

She was tempted to lie but instead gave him the truth "At little, but I can't put any pressure on my toe because then it hurts a lot.

"I promise not to touch or hurt your toe in any way."

"But you still have the advantage because I can't walk properly."

"I know." He smiled brilliantly.

"That's not fair."

"I know that too." He pouted in fake sympathy.

"You're not going to give me a head start or make any concessions?"

"Hmm…" He pretended to think about it for a moment before shaking his head in sad apology "No."

"Don't you have any decency, any courteous instincts at all?"

"Nope, so don't waste your breath trying to make me feel bad because you'll fail." He informed her blandly. At the dumbfounded expression on her face he gave a carefree shrug "Hey it's the law of nature that any wounded animal in the wild is fair game to predators, and now…" he ran one finger down her nose gently and concluded with "so...are...you."

He was enjoying this. The rotten so and so knew he was going to win, and didn't even have the common civility to pretend like he thought she had a chance.

Swallowing heavily, Lois licked her lips and feeling the giggle bubble up in her throat once again, had to silently admit that knowing he would never harm her, gave her the freedom to also enjoy this game of cat and mouse.

Feeling edgily excited she shifted minimally to the left, and keeping one hand on the wall at her back ready to use for pushing leverage, grabbed onto the slipping towel with the other hand, and watched him like a hawk. The second Clark moved forward grinning in anticipation, she pushed off, ducked under his arm and managed to take one hobbling step before being picked up and thrown over one broad shoulder.

"Put me down." Lois cried in feigned outrage.

"Quiet!" Whistling jauntily he strolled into his bedroom.

Upon reaching it, he seated her carefully on the bed against the pillows stacked against the headboard, picked up the tray from the bedside table and placed it on her lap then sat on the edge at her side.

Pushing the wet strands of hair from her face, Lois glanced at the tray heaped with food "You're giving me breakfast in bed?" She asked pleased.

He nodded, picked up the glass of juice from the nightstand and handed it to her "Ya huh, I figure that given what happened yesterday that I'd better feed you before we do anything else today."

Bravely swallowing the mouthful of juice, Lois's body shook with mirth while recalling the way they had collapsed screaming with laughter when her stomach growled and rumbled loudly and repeatedly while they were making love the previous morning.

"I was hungry."

"Hence the food this morning." He replied logically and waved a hand at her "I'm happy to watch while you continue to hold onto the towel but your hand will probably get tired. Do you want one of my t-shirts?" At her nod, he retrieved one for her, and after she was settled comfortably, tugged off his clothes and sat beside her in just his briefs.

"You need to undress to eat breakfast?" Lois asked politely.

"I don't want to spill anything on my clothes." He returned loftily and not giving her time to come back with remark began pointing to each item on the tray "We have flapjacks, fruit, bacon, butter, syrup, coffee and juice. Take your pick and make sure you eat plenty but if this still doesn't fill your tummy there's plenty more food downstairs, and I'm also willing to make a run to the supermarket if need be."

She smacked his arm in retaliation before picking up a slice of pineapple and biting in, enjoying the combination of tart and sweet in her mouth. Lifting her hand to wipe at the juice dribbling down her chin, she paused when Clark leant forward and licked it off instead.

"Did you forget the napkins and silverware?"

"Nope we have them..." Turning to the nightstand on his side, he retrieved both "I also got some wet ones in case we feel sticky afterwards."

"Good thinking." Finishing of the pineapple, she picked up a slice of bacon and cocked a brow in query "So where is Attila?"

"Happily splashing around in the pool." He replied absently while forking up some flapjacks, bacon and fruit onto his plate.

"I didn't know you brought it yesterday."

"I didn't, I went to your place earlier got it." He shrugged and after pouring on the syrup forked up a mouthful.

Leaning forward she pressed her lips to his "Thanks."

Nodding he munched and swallowed "That's ok, since it was pretty hot when I woke up I figured the mutt would like to have it and boy is that an understatement. When I went to your place to pick it up I took him along and he jumped into the pool first thing. I had to haul him out three times before I finally locked him inside the house just so that I could empty it." Clark paused, took a bite of bacon and admitted "He was really pissed at me for doing it too."

Lois nodded in understanding "I've had to drag him out a number of times myself this past week and was shown the sulks for doing so."

Clark grunted fiercely at that "At least you only get the sulks, I get blasted with a serious of bad tempered growls and high pitched noises like I'm torturing the little shit." He hefted out a deep breath and shook his head "When I was setting up the pool on the lawn outside, he was a pest all over again."

Snickering she patted his arm in comfort and held a strawberry to his lips in consolation "I'll thank you for making my dog happy after breakfast."

"Really?"

"Mmm hmm."

"In that case I let him sleep with me last night, so you also owe me for that as well." Clark put in rapidly. At her raised brows, he rolled his eyes "He wanted to sleep with you, but since I didn't want him bothering you in the middle of the night because of your bum foot, I let him sleep with me."

"Why didn't you just put him in his doggy bed downstairs?" Lois asked bewildered.

"I tried but he refused to stay there." Clark groused feelingly.

Her smile grew until it stretched from ear to ear.

"Shut up."

Waving at the tray with her fork, she affirmed gravely "When I finish eating, you're getting a big fat reward."

"Good because I certainly deserve it." He declared baldly and forking up a piece of flapjack and fruit, pressed it to her lips "Eat quickly."

oOo

_7.__30pm – same day_

Lois sat on the couch reading a book with Attila curled up asleep on her lap, and her feet likewise resting in Clark's while he was absorbed watching a documentary on the History Channel.

She wiggled her feet in a blatant hint for some attention, and sighed lightly in pleasure when he got the message and began to brush his fingertips lightly over her calves.

Peeking up through her lashes at Clark then down at Attila, she wondered if this is what it meant by the term 'all was right with the world'.

It certainly felt like it.

The simple domesticity of them doing the same thing that millions of people all the world over were doing felt nice. It was so homey and comfy and yeah ok she'd spent similar nights like this was boyfriends in the past so it was far from a unique experience, but although it wasn't new, it felt like it was.

_Everything_ with Clark seemed new and exclusive to them. She couldn't explain it, couldn't decipher why doing the most simple of things like going for a walk, holding hands, or laughing together could feel like a novel exercise and not something that she'd shared with another but it did. It didn't feel old hat and that was an unusual considering the number of boyfriends that she'd had.

Uncomfortable and unwilling to delve deeper into the reasons why that was, she gave herself a quick mental shake and ignoring the taunting voice at the back of her mind calling her a coward, soon became immersed in her novel once more.

oOo

When his program was over Clark switched off the TV and turned to ask Lois a question only to find her heartily scratching Attila's belly while the dog wriggled in ecstasy. His hind leg shook back and forth, his front paws beat at the air, and his mouth hung open with his tongue lolling out.

"Did you wake him up?"

Lois looked up guiltily "I couldn't help it. He looked so peaceful that I just wanted to tickle him." She bent down over the beast and giggled into his face "You love it when I give you a good scratch don't you boy?"

Attila ruffed pantingly in reply.

When her hand grew tired she stopped, causing the animal to let out a small sound of disappointment before he rolled over and hopped off her lap. After stretching out one leg then the other, he curled his back and yawned and spotting one of his toys on the floor began playing attack.

"Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?"

Hearing the adoration in her voice, seeing the joy on her face while watching the dog's antics Clark's brows rose high in question "Just how clucky are you?"

Her head swung back surprised "Clucky, as in babies?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not clucky."

His lip lifted in a half smile of disbelief while his eyes flicked to the dog then back to her "No."

Lois rolled her eyes "Give me a break, a dog's different."

"How?"

"Well for one thing, although Attila is currently the age of a young adult, I'm not in the least worried that one day he's going to turn around and say, 'get fucked mom, I'll do whatever the hell I like and you can't stop me'."

Clark burst out laughing "That's an interesting way of looking at things."

She grinned in return "I always keep the big picture in mind, and one of the most important when it comes to cute little babies, is remembering they won't stay a rosy cheeked little dumpling. But Attila will always be happy just licking my face, and falling asleep on my lap."

"So you really don't want kids?"

"Nope."

Unwilling to discern why he felt disappointed at her words, Clark asked thoughtfully "I wonder what a kid of ours would be like?"

"This is a hypothetical question right?" Lois asked curiously. At his accompanying nod, she looked him over carefully and her eyes twinkled "Well first off we're lucky the Lane genes are strong, because my good looking ones are needed to counteract the ugly ones that come from your side of the fence."

"I know that I'm handsome." He retorted smugly.

She snorted "Boy you're conceited."

He snorted back "You just said that you're good looking."

"I did not, I said my genes were." She corrected prissily "Anyway they'd also get my smarts, my gift with words, my charming manner, my natural brilliance, my everything else and your….well whatever it is that you have to offer." She looked at him and smiled sweetly "Do you have anything?"

"The first thing they'd get from me would be the Kent humility, and they'll need it just to stop the Lane genes from giving them a fat head." She giggled, he grinned "The boys will get my rakish ability to charm the ladies, and girls will get my intelligence to tell all those sweaty palmed horny teenage boys to get lost."

"The girls will have their mother's wicked allure and all the boys will fall like 9 pins for them?" She announced blandly.

"They'll also have a father that will pound any boy into the dirt who dares to look sideways at his daughters." He returned without missing a beat.

"So what you're saying is that the boys get to fool around but the girls don't?" She clarified gently and folded her arms.

Her body language, the narrowing of her eyes and the tone in her voice all caused the hair on the nape of his neck to rise. Unconcerned, Clark likewise folded his arms and nodded "Yep."

"Well I'll have you know the girls will be just like their mother and do whatever they like." She informed him crisply.

"And I'll have you know that if they try their father will ground them until they're 90." Clark countered bluntly.

Her chin shot up in rebellion "Their mother will tell them they're not grounded right in front of the father's face."

"The father will be really pissed if she does."

"The mother doesn't care."

"The father will lock them in the house."

"The mother will help them escape."

"Their mother better not try."

"And what's he going to do about it when she does?"

"He's going to yell."

Lois made a noise between a scoff and a grunt "Like she cares."

"She'd better care, or she'll find herself cut off." Clark retorted heatedly.

"Cut off from what?"

"From getting sex ever ever again."

"He wouldn't dare."

"Oh yes he would."

"Then she'll divorce his sorry ass and find a new man." Lois stressed angrily.

"We are not getting divorced." He yelled enraged.

"We are if I don't get sex ever ever again." She shouted back.

They stared at each other heatedly until the sound of Attila barking at them caught their attention. The full realisation of their conversation caught up, they turned to stare at the dog, then each other, lips twitched, chins quivered, a chuckle and a squeak of laughter popped out then both began to roar with laughter.

Attila looked from one to the other in confusion. When their voices first began to rise he'd stopped chewing on his toy, as they'd gotten louder the dog had sat up alert and barked in upset. However, their laughter calmed the beast who figuring all was well went back to chewing on his toy and rolling over his play mat cheerfully.

Wiping the tears of mirth from her eyes Lois cocked a brow in query "You wouldn't really do that to your daughters would you?"

Clark smiled and shook his head "No, I'd want all my children to be happy not just the boys, but I will be more protective of the girls and I'm not going to lie or apologise about that."

"But..."

He held up a hand to stay her argument "Lo I know all about women's rights and treating them as equals blah blah and I even agree with it, but when it comes to protecting any female that I care about, none of it means dick. As a woman you might not like it but ask any man who has a daughter, sister, wife, girlfriend, fiancée or close female relative that he loves and he'll tell you the same thing."

Recalling her own father's attitude, past boyfriends and conversations she'd had with friends when they'd groaned about the men in their lives overprotective behaviour on occasion, Lois' couldn't dispute his argument and nodded in understanding.

"Anyway that's enough about non-existent children. It's a nice night so what'd you say I get us some wine, put on some music and we sit outside on the front deck."

She smiled in agreement "That sounds nice but is a snack included in your plan?"

"Yep, what do you think of crusty bread rolls and havarti cheese."

"Yum."

"And since I'm pretty sure the beast is going to want to join us, I have something for him as well..." At Lois' smothered grin, Clark gave her the fish eye "Don't start with me."

"You think he's a cutie admit it."

"I think he's a pain in the butt." Clark declared stoutly, and getting to his feet wasn't in the least surprised to look down and find he had a small furry companion dancing beside him into the kitchen.

oOo

**31 ****July – 7.30pm**

Lois folded the last of her clothes into the bag, looked around the room for any stray articles, and once assured that she hadn't forgotten anything, zipped it closed. Setting the already packed toiletries bag beside it, she picked up her makeup case and turned for the dressing table.

Coming into the room quietly Clark held out his hand "I found your book Lo; it was under the coffee table in the lounge room."

"Thanks; can you put it in my bag."

He nodded and tossed it inside before taking a seat on the bed beside the dog "I'll bring the pool over tomorrow ok?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Sure." Tempted to ask her to stay for a few more days, he tapped his fingers absently on his thigh, opened his mouth, closed it then cleared his throat "How about staying over again next weekend."

She swung around and smiled minutely "I'd like that."

"Good." Exhaling softly he got to his feet and picked up the bags from the bed "I'll just go put these in my truck."

"Ok, I'll be down in a bit." She replied with a fleeting smile.

"Take your time." He whistled to catch Attila's attention "C'mon pest it's time to go."

The dog looked between her and him, and jumping down at a wave of her hand, followed Clark from the room.

Lois continued packing up her things, and sighed heavily in disappointment that the weekend was already over.

oOo

Bringing the truck to a halt behind her car under the portico, Clark switched off the ignition and looked through the windscreen at the house "You're home."

"Yeah."

"I'll get your bags."

"I'll just go turn on some lights and be back to help in a minute ok?"

He nodded silently before climbing out of the truck.

After everything was unloaded, the two stood staring at each other in the light of the front porch at a loss for words. She didn't want him to go and he didn't want to leave, but neither knew how to say as much without sounding dorky or needy.

"I had a great time this weekend." She told him with a small smile.

He tucked his hands into his back pockets and rocked on the balls of his feet "So did I."

"I'm looking forward to the dance next weekend."

"So am I."

She looked out at the front garden and cleared her throat noisily.

He pursed his lips trying to think of something to say.

"Do you want to have some coffee or something before you go?"

"Yeah...I mean no I'd better leave." Before I toss you into my truck and drive home again despite your protests, he finished silently.

"Oh; well ok." She nodded again and wondered why Attila was taking so long becoming reacquainted with the house that he wasn't there trying to stop Clark from leaving like usual. Mentally calling her dog to hurry up, she limped down the stairs and came to a stop beside his truck.

"Well I had a great time..." She stopped and gave a small embarrassed laugh "I've already said that, haven't I?"

"Yeah but it was kinda great; even though I didn't manage to coax you into sleeping with me." He grumbled good natured.

"No you didn't, but do get points for trying really hard." Lois advised consolingly.

"Is it my technique, because I can work on that?" Clark asked curiously.

Snickering softly she shook her head "Your technique is exceptional."

He ducked his head and smiled modestly "So which one nearly made you give in? The slow seductive dance to Barry White, or when I pretended to cry like a little girl to get you to stay with me afterwards."

"Neither, it was when I laughed at your fake crying and you snivelled, 'aw c'mon, you owe me. I just spent an hour rocking your world and if you really cared about me, you'd prove it by sleeping with me tonight'." She finished with a howl.

Clark chuckled and simultaneously shook his head slowly "How sad is it that once upon a time a guy would use that line to coax his girl into having sex with him, yet I was talking about actual sleeping."

"Pretty sad." Lois agreed straight faced.

"Yeah." Leaning down captured her lips with his cutting off her snicker and hummed in his throat when her arms lifted to encircle his neck. Lifting his mouth a few minutes later, he blew out a deep breath, dropped his arms and stepped back "I'd better go before I end up taking you on the front lawn."

"I don't mind." She croaked out breathlessly.

"We are not giving your neighbours a peep show."

Blowing out a disappointed breath, she gestured with her head "It's late so we can do it on the back lawn and no one will see us."

"It's not even dark yet."

"So?"

"Is that all you can think about?" When she grinned hugely in response, he rolled his eyes "You're insatiable."

"It's your own fault for spoiling me. I haven't gotten it this often in a long long time, so now it's as necessary to me as breathing." She explained holding out a hand in appeal.

"Me too." He confessed with a wide grin.

"How do you feel about phone sex?"

"I love it."

"Me too." She wiggled her brows and suggested with a huge grin "What'd you think about us having phone sex to wean us off the real thing after I leave."

When his brow darkened, Lois silently cursed. Hell she'd only been kidding; ok half kidding. Clearly she'd overstepped the mark and Clark didn't want to hear from her once she left. Figuring her only option was to brazen it out, she shrugged nonchalant "Or not; we'll probably be too busy with other things, other interests..." She cleared her throat and finished diplomatically "Other people."

At her words his brow darkened further. He didn't know whether to be pissed off at the way she casually mentioned her departure, or pissed off at the careless way she mentioned that she'd be busy with some other man in the near future.

Compressing his lips to hold back the comment that she wasn't going anywhere, he clasped her face in his hands, raking his fingers through her hair to give him an unobstructed view of her face and glaring directly into her eyes declared tightly "_NO...we won't!_ We'll be having phone sex and plenty of it."

"Ok." Lois squeaked out and felt her tummy tremble deliciously at the emphasis in his voice and the uncompromising look in his eyes.

Keeping her eyes locked with his he snarled softly "And we'll only be busy with each other..._understand?_"

"Uh huh." She agreed automatically and wondered how he felt about being objectified. Actually he had no say so in the matter, if he didn't like it then too damn bad. He shouldn't scowl so and use the same tone she imagined one her favourite hero's used when he proclaimed furiously to the heroine _"Married? Married? By god, then you shall be widowed soon enough."_

She could easily picture Clark as Dominic in breeches and a loose shirt with lots of lace around the writs, long hair tied back with a strip of leather, and all his concentration focused on driving his opponent to his knees for daring to take his lady love as they duelled in a sword fight to the death.

"Do not mention other men to me again." He grated softly.

"Humm." If he crushed her to his chest, called her a little fool before taking her mouth in a bruising kiss she'd swoon right in his arms; she'd honest to god swoon.

At her nothing response his eyes narrowed in determination only to dance with laughter a moment later when he realised that she wasn't fobbing him off, in fact she wasn't even paying attention, she was lost in some world of her own. Her eyes were on his mouth, her lips pouching out like she was begging to be kissed and she was all but humming in anticipation. Clearing his throat softly, Clark slowly swiped his tongue over his bottom lip and watched as she followed suit. He leant forward minutely and in response Lois pushed up her chin and pouched out her lips even more. Wanting to laugh, he ran his tongue over his teeth and heard the gulp she gave in response before her eyes unfocused.

This woman could entertain him no end. A couple of minutes ago was he ticked and wanted nothing more than to shake some sense into her, now he felt an overwhelming desire to know what she was fantasising about and giving it to her. However, since he couldn't do that, there was nothing stopping him from taking advantage of her present inattention. Yeah ok so it wasn't exactly right and proper but who cared. Nice people were so busy playing by the rules they forgot the point of the game was to enjoy it. Hmm, then again they also didn't get themselves into trouble needlessly so maybe he should test the waters to find out just how far out of it she was first.

Leaning forward he told her in a deep husky voice "I kicked Attila around the lounge room this morning just for something to do."

She swallowed hard and felt the shiver travel down her spine. God that rich, dark sexy tone in his voice made her feel like melting into a puddle at his feet.

Seeing her eyes darken, Clark smiled in satisfaction. Oh yeah she was gone, out, not taking any calls and this was the perfect opportunity to tell her a few things that she hadn't yet worked out.

He firmed his voice and informed her steadily "The next time you come and stay at the farm with me you won't be coming back."

"Hmmm."

Bending forward a fraction more he whispered softly, throatily "And we'll be sleeping together, as in closing our eyes and being in dreamland."

"Mmm hmm." Lois nodded slowly.

He shook his head slowly and growled decisively "You're not going anywhere at the end of August."

"Nuh-uh." She agreed huskily with a slow headshake in return.

"So it's all settled then?" He determined in a low raspy tone.

"Yes." She breathed and pouched out her lips hoping he'd crush them with his.

Wanting to laugh out loud at the kissing gestures her lips were making, he turned aside to snigger before turning back to pronounce loudly "great!"

He saw the moment her eyes cleared and snapped to. Ahh, she was back, and now he could really have some fun. Clearing any amusement out of his face, Clark lifted one brow in polite enquiry as if waiting for a response to a question.

Lois blinked rapidly, shook her head and felt like wiggling in mortification. She had no idea what they were talking about. The last coherent thought she clearly remembered was the desire to bite his lip, then his voice just faded away and she was thinking of...

"Well?"

"What?"

"It's all settled?" He nudged and watched the tide of colour rise from her throat to her face until it reached the hairline.

"Oh, well um..." She continued mumbling while looking around for something to focus on, and sent up a prayer of thanks at seeing the spot on her t-shirt. Looking at Clark with a militant sparkle in her eye, she asked snippily "Why didn't you tell me that I dropped chocolate ice-cream on my top, just look at it."

He ignored that and raised his brows "So you agree?"

"I'm going to have to scrub at this just to get the stain out and I'd better do it right now, so I'll see you ok?" She tried to nudge him to get in the car and huffed indignantly when he refused to move.

"We haven't finished talking yet." He reminded her pleasantly.

"We haven't."

"No we haven't."

Lois' shoulders drooped in resignation "What did I agree to?"

"Nothing."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you were paying attention."

"You bastard." She laughed and punched him in the arm for good measure "Now that you've managed to make me feel like a dope have you finished?"

"Nope."

"What's left?"

Placing his hands either side of her hips, he caged her in against the car "Get back in the truck sweetheart you're coming home with me."

Lois stared at him for a beat then pushed him aside and scuttled as quickly as her sore foot would carry her towards the house.

Easily catching up, he stepped in front and bared the way "Wrong direction baby, the trucks back there." He pointed over her shoulder and when her mouth opened, steamrolled over any objections she could make in a pleasant but resolute voice "And this time I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. So don't waste time explaining to me that the word 'no' is an answer, because I didn't ask a question."

"Later on I'll have plenty to say about your arrogance, but right now I just want to go and get my _things_." She laughed exasperated then screamed when he tossed her up in his arms and strode up the front stairs informing her gaily "I'll help."

Setting her down carefully in the lounge room he grabbed the bags, she scooped up the dog and her purse then locked up the house "How long am I staying for this time?"

He bit back 'for good' and replied diplomatically "The invitation is open ended."

"Ok then I'll stay a for a week, what'd you think."

Wanting to get on the road before she changed her mind, he bobbed his head in accord "Fine, we can discuss it again next Sunday night, let's go."

She nodded in agreement and obligingly hobbled down the stairs, but after setting Attila on the ground, stood up with her brows scrunched together deep in thought.

At the look on her face he whimpered silently and prayed this wasn't going to be a replay of Friday afternoon's battle all over again. Mentally pushing up his sleeves, Clark took a deep breath and began shooting down Lois' issues one by one.

"I should really get some more clothes and stuff before we leave." She stated uncertainly.

"You can get them tomorrow."

"I also need my car."

"You can get that tomorrow too."

"Plus if I'm going to be at your place all week…."

"You will be." He interrupted to announce implacably.

"….then I also have to empty out the fridge." She continued as if he hadn't spoken "Since the foods good I don't want to throw it away so I'll just take anything that might spoil to your place, and we can eat it rather than letting it go to waste. That's a good idea don't you think?"

"Fabulous."

"Also I have to.…"

He stopped her flow of words by the simple expedient of pressing his lips hard against hers "We'll worry about everything tomorrow, for now let's go."

"Ok but don't you think…."

He rolled his eyes to the heavens and sealed their lips together again capturing the muffled "mpfff" which escaped her mouth.

Once free Lois tried a third time "I just want to say one more…."

Letting out a huge sigh, Clark fastened his mouth to hers a third time. She stepped back, he stepped forward and keeping their lips locked refused to let up despite her squeals.

Managing to wrench her mouth free, she laughed "I give up."

"Tomorrow?" He asked suspiciously not trusting her an inch.

"Yes."

"Good." He replied and felt profoundly grateful when she climbed into the truck without further argument. However, it seemed that Lois hadn't given up just changed tactics as she mentioned several more items of urgency that had to be taken care of on the drive back to the farm.

He nodded automatically, tried to get a word in here or there, gave up and just continued to drive.

Pulling up in front of the farmhouse again, he hopped out of the truck with a whistle, strode around to the passenger door, and pulled it open with a flourish "Honey, you're home."

Lois gave him a withering look "Before I get out I have to warn you about something."

"What's that?"

"Now that the weekends over I'm not going to act like a pleasant houseguest anymore, so I'll probably nag at you."

"Lo I think whoever coined the phrase 'nothing is certain but death and taxes', simply forgot to include you nagging at me into the equation." He chuckled when she pinched his side and taking the dog off her lap set him on the ground before offering his hand to help her out of the truck.

Puling open the rear door he grabbed both the makeup case and toiletries bag and handed them to her "By the way, I don't remember you acting contrary to your nature this weekend."

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean houseguest or not, it didn't stop you from being a bossy boots." He grabbed both the suitcase and Attila's bed, hipped the car door closed and headed towards the house.

Knowing that he was right, she simply stuck out her tongue at his back in retaliation.

The three trooped inside the house and up the stairs. After setting down the doggy bed at the head of the hallway, he turned and asked in a voice confident of getting a positive response "So should I just go ahead and put your stuff in my room?"

"Your mom's." She cooed sweetly and at the disgruntled scowl on his face, batted her eyes and simpered before limping into the master bedroom with Clark trailing behind.

"So what are we going to do now?"

"Well first I want to make a list of all the stuff I need to take care of tomorrow to ensure I don't forget anything."

He groaned out loud, followed her back down the stairs and when she picked up a pad and pen, took both out of her hands, tossed them over his shoulder and tumbled her down onto the couch.

"My list!" Lois cried in protest then laughed when Attila jumped on top with a yip thinking it was play time.

oOo

_Later that night_

With a huge sigh and a loud "aw not again" Clark watched as Lois climbed out of bed and likewise climbed out as well.

"You don't need to get up you know." Retrieving one of his t-shirts she slipped it on.

"I'm walking you home." He grumbled and pulled on a pair of shorts.

"I'm only going across the hallway to sleep." She snickered but obligingly took his outstretched hand.

"You're the one always telling me to act like a gentleman and now you're complaining when I'm trying to; make up your mind."

Lois cleared her throat and sent him a sheepish look "I'm not going to say another word."

"That'd be a first." He declared rudely before opening the door. Taking two steps forward he stopped outside the master bedroom "Here you go."

"Thanks."

"I thought for sure you were falling asleep."

"You mean you tried hard enough to get me to fall asleep." She corrected cordially.

"Same thing." Not giving her time to reply, he slipped his arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground, claimed her giggling lips with his. Letting her up for air a when they were both breathless he slid her slowly down his body until her feet were once more on the floor "Would it really be so bad Lo; us sleeping together I mean?"

Hearing no hint of amusement in his voice, she didn't know how to answer without sounding foolish "I really prefer to sleep alone Clark."

"I know but I'm asking you to re-think your stance on it." At the doubt in her eyes, he requested quietly "Just think about it, let the idea brew for a bit that's all I'm asking for."

"I'll consider it, but I'm not promising anything." She replied after a few seconds deliberation.

"Fair enough."

"Anything else?"

Since that was the closest he'd ever gotten to a yes, and because she'd already agreed to stay at the farm for a week, Clark figured that he'd better quit while he was ahead and not push his luck any further for the present "Nope; goodnight babe."

"Goodnight."

Returning to his room he slipped under the covers and his lips curved.

He didn't know who he'd pissed off enough that they'd sent Lois back to Smallville to harass the life out of him, but he'd love to find the person and after punching them in the nose, thank them from the bottom of his heart.

He'd started off the weekend smitten and finished it by being crazy nuts about her; though goodness only knew why.

Lois was a high maintenance girlfriend with a 'take me as I am or go to hell' attitude and made no apologies for being that way. She was mouthy, bossy, had a busy little mind, and a propensity for ticking him off. She couldn't cook worth a damn, made the simplest things difficult and on top of all that, she had a runt of a dog who had the soul of a diva.

He by comparison was a man who liked things easy.

But when she mentioned her departure tonight, he knew that he wasn't going to let her leave. If he was being strictly truthful with himself, he'd known it for a while.

He wanted Lois around making his life messy and difficult, wanted her moody little dog getting under his feet, and having his carefree life back wouldn't begin to compensate for losing them. Maybe someday soon he'll be ready to embrace his solo life once again, but for the foreseeable future it was Lois and all her funny little ways that he needed.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi everyone

Firstly thanks for all the feedback guys and for being so patient waiting for this update.

I just have to say that this chapter was not a labour of love. It was a bloody bitch that made me feel like bashing my head against the wall, and throwing my computer out the window (much like the person who's making an appearance in it), and I'm sure you all now know who's dropping by.

Anyway, I hope that after all the cursing I did, and headaches I got getting this down, that you all enjoy it.

BTW: it's long so get comfortable.

Note: don't forget in this story Lois left Smallville before Lana returned from her fake death in S7, and when Lana came back again in S8 Clark told her to bugger off; there was **no** AOS. Or I guess you could say there was an AOS but it only sucked for Lana, lol

Linda

oOo

**5****th**** August**

Taking a seat at one of the tables in the Talon, Lois scanned over her shopping list and scratched out a few more items that she wanted to pick up from the store. When her phone buzzed she sighed at seeing Clark's name on the screen then sighed again before clicking it on "What do you want me to pick up now?"

"Testy." He replied amused.

"This is the fourth time you've called to tell me to pick up something that you forgot to mention before I left the farm, which was only 30 minutes ago I might add." She retorted bluntly. "I foolishly thought, hey grocery shopping's pretty simple and I should know since I've been doing it for years so I'll take care of it while I'm staying at the farm..." She took a deep breath and stressed "...**but**, if I knew just how anal you were about which particular potatoes I had to get, or which cuts of meat you wanted or which anything you just had to have I would have told you to stick it in your ear and get your own groceries."

Clark chewed his lip to hold back the snicker that wanted to pop out "Well I did offer to the do the shopping after knocking off for the day. Which as you know is after I finish feeding the animals, and taking care of all the other chores I have to do around the farm, not to mention cutting the grass on the front lawn but..."

She lifted her eyes to the ceiling "What'd you need?"

"It doesn't matter, I'll go shopping later." He paused for a beat before asking sarcastically "That's if you don't mind me having a rest first."

"Actually I do mind if you have a rest first." She replied crisply.

He scowled at the phone but figuring that he'd better change tactics, sighed loudly and woefully down the line "Well then I'd better get back to work, I'm sorry for bothering you."

"It's not a problem, see ya." Lois called cheerfully and hearing his annoyed huff, smiled "Oh sorry did you want something else?"

"Well now that you ask..." He began enthusiastically before mumbling disconsolately "No it's ok, just forget I called."

"I can do that."

"Really, you can really and truly forget...just like that?"

"Yep."

"Really; even though I'm going to use little spare time I have available to help make the food that you'll be taking to the dance?

Hearing the wounded tone in his voice Lois snarled "If I've heard that once, I've heard it a thousand times this week whenever you wanted something. So don't try and make me feel guilty or grateful pal because that ship has sailed."

"What a horrible thing to say." He chided gently "You almost make it sound like I'm trying to take advantage of you."

"You are!"

Pretending not to hear the slur, he insisted earnestly "When in fact I just want to ensure that people look at your offerings with enthusiasm." He paused for a beat then added soothingly "But if you're not embarrassed by people refusing to eat the food you bring then I'll try not to be mortified on your behalf either."

"Tell me what you need, before I tell you to stuff it and hang up."

At the gentle tone in her voice the hair on the back of his neck rose. Figuring he'd better do as requested Clark cleared his throat and asked meekly "Do you have your pen handy?"

"Shoot."

Nodding silently she jotted down the items he requested and when he ran down asked snidely "Now is that it; are you sure?"

"Hmm, read the list back just in case." He nodded satisfied "Ok that should do it, see you when you get back."

Clicking of the phone before he could come up with something else, Lois smiled at the waitress delivering her coffee "Thanks Tracey."

She bobbed her head in acknowledgment, looked towards the doorway then back at Lois concerned "I don't see Attila anywhere."

"He's at the farm with Clark."

"Ah well that explains it then." She smiled relieved "I'm used to seeing him popping his head in the doorway to seek you out, so not seeing him was a little worrying."

Lois grinned in return "He's a little cutie isn't he?"

"Yep." Seeing a new customer entering the shop, she excused herself and got back to work.

Turning her attention back to the list in hand she read it over while sipping her coffee, and hearing her name being asked like a question looked up, and gave a small start at seeing the woman in front of her "Lana, hi."

"Hi, do you mind if I join you."

"No, please do." She smiled and swept out a hand in invitation "You look wonderful" and that's an understatement Lois thought silently.

"So do you." Lana smiled warmly in return "It's been a long time."

"Yeah it has; how've you been?"

"Ok I guess." She replied placidly and took a quick look around the room "Every time I come back to Smallville I'm always taken aback at the changes from when I managed it this place."

"I like it." She replied simply.

"I do too it's just different. It also makes me feel a little sad that I don't recognise a lot of the people; where once upon a time I would have known most everyone who lived in town."

"You left a long time ago." Lois reminded her kindly.

"I know but still...thank you." She broke off to smile at the waiter when her coffee was placed on the table.

"Did you want another one Lois?"

"No thanks Nathan; I'm only half way through this one so I'm good."

"Before I forget, the cooks got a big old lamb bone that's just going begging." At her light laugh, he smiled in return "Anyway, she set it aside for Attila in case you came in today. So how about I wrap it up and you can take it home to the poor little pooch?"

"The poor little pooch never goes hungry. In fact he's becoming kind of hefty from all the treats lavished onto him." She told him candidly "But he'll love it so thanks, and please tell Maryanne I said thank you as well."

"I will."

She cocked a brow "Just how big is it by the way."

"Almost as big as him." Nathan replied promptly.

"Well that wouldn't be hard and it'll be entertaining watching him drag it around if nothing else." She smiled in delight "I'm going to do some shopping after I finish my coffee, so I'll pop in here and pick it up on my way home if that's ok?"

"That's fine." He nodded and after asking the ladies to call out if they wanted anything else, he left with a smile.

"I was just about to ask how long you've been back but I guess it's been a while since the waiter knows you already." Lana remarked when they were alone.

"Actually I haven't been back for long but it almost feels like I've been here for years." Lois remarked thoughtfully "I guess that just as I didn't have any problem getting to know people last time, this time was no different."

"But last time you had Chloe to smooth the way and living with the Kent's kind of helped if you know what I mean." She replied tentatively.

"I do, but I also think it helps that I'm no wallflower and never have been." Lois replied with a smile.

"True..." Lana nodded in agreement "So how long have you been back then?"

"About nine weeks, but I'm only here on holiday."

"Why Smallville?"

"I don't know, but I'm glad that I came." She remarked simply "I used to think this place was nice but not really my cup of tea since I much preferred the bright lights of the city, to a town that rolled up the sidewalks at 5pm. Now it seems to suit me down to the ground, and when I get a yen for the hustle and bustle of the city, Metropolis is only 3 hours away by car."

"What's funny is that for some city people, 3 hours by car means civilisation is too far away, and for some country people it means the city is far too close." Lana smiled crookedly.

"True, and since I was one of those city people I understand that."

"Since I was one of those small town folks I get the other." Lana bobbed her head in agreement.

Lifting heir cups in unison, the women tapped them lightly together and took a sip of their drinks.

"So where have you been living for the past however many years we haven't see each other?" Lana asked uncertainly.

"15."

"It's been 15 years; really?"

"Uh huh." She smiled in commiseration when her companion winced "Feeling old?"

"Yeah, I mean if we play 'remember when', then we'll be talking about stuff that happened before I was even 20."

"Well, we don't have many 'remember when' moments to reminisce with each other about if that helps." She offered obligingly.

Lana's smile grew in consequence "It does, but I remember you usually made things more cheerful Lois, so thanks."

"Welcome." She bobbed her head and took a sip of coffee "Anyway, to get back to your question, I live in San Francisco."

"I visited there once, it's a beautiful city."

"Yeah it is." Lois agreed before enquiring inquisitively "So when did you arrive in town?"

"About an hour ago, I'm renting my aunts old place for a couple of weeks so went there first to drop of my bags and open up the house to give it an airing." She answered easily "I was on my way to the supermarket to stock up but decided to stop in here and get a cup of coffee first."

"Where do you live now, I mean when you're not here visiting?"

She shrugged apathetically "Nowhere in particular; since leaving Smallville I've spent most of my time travelling all over which I really enjoyed and found exciting at first, but it got old after a couple of years."

"Well I did the travelling thing as an army brat so when I arrived in Smallville years ago I was more than happy to stay put for a while, but after leaving I realised that I also liked the nomad existence and didn't want to give it up completely either." Lois told her candidly "I wanted both and found a way to have it but the life of a rolling stone isn't for everyone, and to be honest I wouldn't have pegged you as one of them."

"I'm not." She agreed frankly "I want to settle down somewhere and I've tried several times already but haven't been very successful at finding a place that I want to stay long term. The problem is that Smallville is the only place that I've ever felt truly at home, but when I come back for a visit with the intention of staying for good, I find that it's not the way I remembered and there's nothing here for me anymore, so end up leaving again."

"Nothing stays the same; time marches on and changes everything." Lois replied practically.

"I know but it would be nice if we could freeze time or go back don't you think?"

"Well I think that freezing time to capture a perfect moment is best done with a camera, and going back in time would be a mistake. If you did that you'd probably find the memory that you'd treasured wasn't as lovely as you thought, and then you've ruined it so..." She finished with a half shrug.

"You always were level headed." Lana smiled ruefully.

"Oh I can dream with the best of them, and if I want something badly enough I'll fight for it, but no matter what the outcome I don't let myself wallow in thoughts of what might have been." She replied honestly.

"I envy that." Lana admitted quietly with a small sigh "It's hard not to dwell on 'what might have been' and 'if only' especially when life doesn't go the way we plan or want it to. But I'm tired of wandering and looking for my dreams in city after city only to be disappointed time and again. So hopefully this time things will work out and I'll feel like I'm back where I belong; if so then I can finally say that I'm home for good."

"I hope it all works out for you."

"Thanks."

"But Lana, don't keep hoping that everything will be the same way they used to be. If you keep looking for the Smallville that you remember back in the day, you'll be let down again." Lois advised cautiously.

"I know." She bobbed her head in understanding "It's hard not to because some of my best memories are from when I grew up here..."

"And some of your worst." Lois cut in to remind her quietly.

"And some of my worst." She agreed with a half hearted smile "But I've put them behind me and truthfully the good outweighs the bad. Nevertheless, that's all in the past and before coming back I decided to leave it there, so now I'm just hoping to fit in again."

"You will, if you really give yourself a chance."

"Yeah."

Lois finished up the last of her coffee before placing the cup back on the table "I'm on my way to the supermarket as well so I'll probably pass you in the aisles, but if not then I'm bound to run into you around town." She got to her feet and picked up her purse "Before I forget; welcome back Lana."

"Thanks Lois, it was nice to see you again."

"You too."

oOo

_Back at the farm_

Lois drove into the yard, tooted the horn and climbing out smiled at seeing Clark strolling out of the barn towards her with Attila running in front. Kneeling down she caught the dog when he leapt into the air, and giggled when he yipped and yapped as if chatting to her about what he'd been doing in her absence.

"Anyone would think I've been gone for weeks." Laughing she gave his fur a ruffle and set him down grinning hugely when he began dancing around her feet woofing enthusiastically all the while.

"I could get an inferiority complex from this mutt." Clark announced and shook his head at the dog's antics "How come he doesn't greet me like this?"

"Are you jealous?"

"I'm just saying." He muttered sulkily and picking up the dog, stared hard into his eyes "Why don't you go bonkers and rejoice when I arrive home huh, answer me that?"

Attila growled and curled his lip.

"You refer to him as the fur-ball, you call him the little shit, you say he looks like an overgrown rat, and you taunt him whenever possible; need I go on?" Lois asked politely.

"Nope I feel better now." Clark grinned then frowned when Attila swiped his tongue over his cheek "He's also a slobbery little bugger, yech!"

Taking the dog from his outstretched hands she smiled into his cute little face "I've got a treat for you, but you'll have to wait until I unpack the groceries ok?" He ruffed at her voice and wagged his tail. Setting him on the ground, she sent him on his way with a pat before looking at Clark with a secretive smile "I've got gossip." At his raised brows she confided low voiced "Guess whose back in town?"

"Lana Lang." He replied promptly.

The confiding air left as her fists slammed onto her hips "You know?"

"Uh huh."

"I was hoping to pass on the news, how'd you find out?"

"If you wanted to be the one to tell me, then you should have picked up the phone and said something like, 'hey guess who I'm having coffee in the Talon with right now'." Clark replied boastfully.

She scowled even more fiercely "You know that too?"

"Of course." He smiled cheekily "Baby when it comes to gossip in this town you have to be quick."

"I thought I was being quick."

"Quicker."

"Quicker, is that even a word?" She asked with a pout.

"It's a word, unlike 'chumpy' that you tried to pass off as a word when we played scrabble last time."

"Chumpy _is_ a word." She defended stoutly.

"Then why isn't it in the dictionary?"

"Maybe you weren't looking in the right dictionary."

"Huh."

"What was that?" She asked suspiciously.

"That was the sound of me scoffing at you." He returned smartly.

"Well forget about that it's not important..." Lois waved a hand dismissively.

"Which means you know that I'm right." Clark cut in tauntingly.

She smacked his arm then smiled sweetly "So sorry, I didn't mean to hit you..."

"Sure you didn't."

"...and let's get back to the gossip I have." She continued as if he hadn't spoken "As I was saying, Lana's back in town."

"I know and I know that you had coffee with her." He replied blandly.

"Well I bet you don't know where she's staying?" Lois sneered openly.

He smirked and thumbed over his shoulder "At her aunt's old place just over there."

"Hmmph." She grumbled, and tapped her foot "I bet you don't know what we talked about."

"Me." He guessed brashly.

"Why would we talk about you?"

"Why wouldn't you is my question?" He asked gravely.

Holding back a smile she retorted crushingly "Have you thought that maybe, just maybe, I've got better things to talk about than you?"

He pursed his lips in deliberation before informing her sombrely "No I don't believe that; everything's about me."

Sputtering out a laugh she shook her head "I've never known anyone with such an atrociously big ego."

"Now that's a flat out lie. How can you possibly say that with any conviction after meeting Lana again?" He demanded accusingly, and grinned at her responding gurgle.

"Stop it." Lois lifted a finger in admonishment "Now getting back to what I was saying; I bet you don't know what we talked about." She finished smugly.

When Clark didn't respond, she glowered and tapped his shoulder encouragingly.

"Oh, I'm supposed to ask right?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yes!"

"So what did you ladies talk about?" He asked politely.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She replied sassily.

"Not really."

"Clark I'm trying to pass on gossip." Lois frowned fiercely.

"Then pass it on already."

"You're supposed to coax it out of me."

"That's not how it works; you're supposed to pry secrets out of a person, and relish passing on gossip." He explained patiently.

Her brow wrinkled in consideration "Huh, I never realised there were specific rules for each. If you want to know something, just ask is my motto."

"I've tried asking and you want to play games." At her glare, he lifted his eyes to the heavens "Fine I'll play along and ask again. What did the two of you talk about?"

"Nothing much…." At his shout of laughter, she scowled "I haven't finished."

"Well?"

"As I was saying, we didn't talk about much but no one else knows that so there." She retorted and stuck out her tongue childishly.

He looked at her unimpressed "You have a lot to learn about gossip."

"I know how to gossip, I'm simply trying to get into the Smallville way of doing it."

"In that case there are only two rules…" He flicked up one finger "…be the first one to get the news out."

"I can do that." She agreed with a firm nod.

Clark grunted rudely "You'll be too busy playing, 'I bet you don't know this' and 'I bet you don't know that', so by the time you finally get the news out everyone would have heard it from someone else already."

Lois frowned insulted "Next time I'll be faster."

"Hmmm..." He replied non-committal "And the second is to actually have some information to share."

"I had information."

"You're information was that you didn't talk about much." He reminded her dryly.

Dejected, she turned to retrieve the groceries from the boot of the car without further argument.

Feeling like a heel at the downcast look on her face, Clark followed and hooking an arm around her waist nuzzled his lips against her cheek consolingly "I bet you'll be a whiz at gossiping the Smallville way in no time."

"Really?"

"Uh huh." He solemnly crossed his heart and grinned when she jumped up and hugged him hard.

"Thanks." Letting him go she grabbed three bags and passed them to him, grabbed the last two and snagged her purse before closing the trunk and walking towards the house "I'll get us some lunch after I put this stuff away ok?"

"Yeah." Following her into the kitchen he placed the bags on the island "Did you get everything I asked for?"

"Yes."

"Everything? Are you sure because when I called you..."

"Which time?" Lois cut in with a growl "You called me 4 times, so which time are you referring too?"

"The last one."

"Then yes, I got everything you asked for; happy?" She asked sarcastically.

"Yep, since I'll need those items to make the hamburgers we're having for dinner tonight."

"We're having hamburgers?"

Seeing the stumped expression on her face, he smiled pleased with himself "Mmm, last night you mentioned that you felt like one, so I thought I'd make us homemade gourmet hamburgers and chunky fries for dinner."

Feeling mean for biting his head off earlier, she smiled at him blindingly "You're the sweetest man in the whole entire universe."

Preening at her description he waved a hand modestly "Not the entire universe, maybe just the whole wide world."

Chortling she nodded in agreement, and turned her attention to unpacking the groceries "Oh guess what; Lana mentioned that she's thinking of moving back here for good."

Having gotten used to the way Lois continued a conversation that he'd thought was already finished, her remark didn't throw him, but it did cause Clark to mentally shake his head and grumble silently; _see_ _now that's actual gossip, yet you didn't think it was important enough to pass it on until now! Pffft, baby you're hopeless._

Figuring he'd better help her out, he plucked out the bag of cherries that he'd spied in one of the grocery sacks and began consuming them while nudging for more information "So why is she thinking of coming back after all this time?"

"Well this is where she grew up so maybe she's just ready to get back to her roots." Lois replied logically with a half shrug.

He eagerly waited for more, but when she didn't say anything else he realised that more wasn't forthcoming and inwardly muttered; _so that's it? Lana said she's thinking of moving back here and you don't have any other details? Did you ask her any questions? Did you snoop, nudge? Sweetheart, when someone gives you a little bit of information you're supposed to stick your beak in and ask them more, so that you can then pass it onto everyone else. That's the Smallville way of gossiping. You know how I said that you'll be a whiz at it in no time; well I was __**lying**__._

Feeling deeply embarrassed for her lack of skills in the art of extracting information to share with the populace, Clark morosely ate another cherry and mentally threw up his hands in defeat.

Taking out the punnet of strawberries from the sack, Lois turned for the fridge but stopped when his fingers wiggled in a 'give me' gesture.

"You're already scoffing down the cherries."

"And now I want the strawberries too."

She handed them over then pulled out the grapes, bananas, mangoes and a pineapple. Placing them on the island she pointed and asked "You want these as well?"

"What's with all the fruit?"

"I thought we'd have fresh fruit salad and cream for dessert, but it looks like you're the only one who's going to get any."

"I promise to leave you at least one of each." He grinned unrepentant.

"Actually since I knew you'd start gorging yourself on them as soon as you saw them I bought extra." She informed him dryly.

Clark shoved a strawberry into his mouth, but at the reflective look on her face his brow wrinkled "What?"

"She seemed different to how I remember her, not a whole lot but a bit." Lois remarked thoughtfully.

"You're talking about Lana again right?"

"Yeah, she seemed sad…no not sad because I don't remember her as a particularly happy person but…" Lois thought about it for a moment then shrugged "…I don't know she just seems different."

"If Lana's not the arrogant little princess she always was then I'm a monkey's butt." Clark sneered disdainfully. Concerned that Lois would get snowed by the woman like so many others, he cautioned "Babe, Lana has many sides. None of them are nice and all of them are geared towards one goal; getting what she wants. Her woebegone demeanour, coupled with the butter wouldn't melt in her mouth expression is just one of the ways in which she deceives people, but don't fall for it ok?"

"She didn't try anything, I didn't fall for anything and FYI unlike some people in this room, I was never suckered in by her years ago." Lois retorted swiftly.

"Neither was I." He replied offhand before popping a cherry into his mouth and sucking the flesh from around the pip.

Before a rude noise could escape she grabbed a strawberry and shoving it into her mouth, chewed slowly in the hope the urge to grunt in disbelief would soon pass.

Having no problem discerning what she was thinking Clark smiled crookedly "Just because I didn't openly acknowledge the shit Lana pulled, doesn't mean that I was ignorant of it. I was a selective idiot Lo not a brain-dead one."

Gulping down the fruit Lois stared at him shocked "You rotten so and so; you made everyone except for Lana feel like dirty dogs for the smallest infraction, and now you're telling me that you weren't a dimwit where she was concerned, but actually chose to be a pushover for her?"

"Hey, I was a kid with a dream." He returned snottily "Some little boys grow up wanting to an astronaut, others want to be a fireman or a race car driver; I just wanted to nail the pretty girl in school…."

"You grew up wanting to marry her if memory serves." Lois interrupted sweetly.

"Well yeah, but considering that my chosen profession was to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle someday, I think you can cut me some slack." Clark retorted huffily.

She giggled and waved him on.

"Now getting back to the point, since I was dying to get into Lana's panties my number one priority was keeping her sweet, so it's not like I could tell her to belt up even when I felt like it." He defended righteously. At her loud snort he frowned ferociously "What's a guy supposed to do under those circumstances except kiss ass?"

"Oh I don't know, find someone else." She retorted pointedly.

"God give me patience." He cast his eyes to the ceiling "Did you miss the part about me dying to get into her panties?"

"Even after you did you were wuss."

"Actually I was worse afterwards." He corrected truthfully "Before getting it the first time I could only imagine what sex was like, afterwards I wanted more so was willing to take whatever crap she dished out to get it." At her disillusioned head shake, he whined pitifully "I had to accept that I wouldn't be a ninja turtle, how much more disappointment was I supposed to endure?" When Lois' lips twitched, Clark figured a little wheedling couldn't hurt "C'mon babe I was a lovesick kid; don't you remember what that's like?"

"Just barely..." She smiled reminiscently. Pressing her hands to her heart, she fluttered her lashes, and said huskily "We don't need anything except each other. If I live a hundred lifetimes I'll never love anyone as much as I love you. You're the cream in my coffee..."

"The salt in my stew." He threw in with a grin.

She laughed in appreciation "Nothing beats the classics."

"And I see that you do know; so tell me all about him." Clark encouraged with a quick eyebrow wiggle.

"Forget it." She shook her head and helped herself to a cherry. She hesitated for a beat before getting back to the point of the original discussion "Clark what I was trying to explain before is that the last time I saw Lana she was still married to Lex and although I could put her melancholia down to that, I won't since that appeared to be her normal disposition and not one that can be attributed to marrying him. So she was definitely happier today than I remember, but I don't think she is deep down."

"Lana's a person of mercurial temperament Lo, she always has been." He shrugged indifferently "She can be on top of the world one moment and in the depths of despair the next. That wasn't caused by her marriage, she was that way before she got married and she was that way afterwards. Her marriage only gave her yet another excuse for being an obnoxious drama queen."

"I remember that you used to be pretty mercurial in temperament yourself." She reminded him softly.

"Yeah but that was during my Lana phase and as I mentioned once before, back then I'd built my life around her, so whatever mood she was in I likewise adopted because she called _**all**_ the shots on whether we were happy from one minute to the next." He admitted readily "However, I wasn't a moody person before I started buzzing around Lana desperate for any attention she gave me, and I haven't been like that since I got her out of my system for good."

Lois frowned in understanding and put forward another side of the equation "Ok, so just as you became more dependent and gave Lana more and more leverage until she had it all, and she in turn became more domineering until she controlled every aspect of you relationship. Then isn't it likely that just as you changed when your fascination with her was over with, that she likewise changed when all the attention you previously lavished on her was taken away?"

"No." Before she could respond he tilted his head enquiringly "Babe, you do remember I told you once that whenever Lana turns up in Smallville that she tries it on with me right?" At the startled look on her face, he figured that he'd made his point but conceded "If she doesn't do it this time I'll admit it's possible that she's trying to change, but if she plays true to form will you admit that I know her better than you."

"I'll admit that right now." Lois replied willingly "But I also think it's possible that your past with her is clouding your judgement, and making you suspicious where there's no reason to be."

"I'll admit that I'm suspicious but I don't agree there's no reason to be. I've learnt that when it comes to Lana Lang to take nothing at face value." He retorted smoothly "The woman has a motive for everything and that includes breathing."

Lois snickered and shook her head "Oh yeah, you're open minded alright."

"I'm open minded about a lot of things, but Lana's not one of them because I know her too well." He replied placidly. Before she could speak, his brow cocked upward in query "Why are you being such an advocate of hers anyway?"

"I don't know." Lois's brow wrinkled in deliberation "I didn't like her years ago. I tried to but just couldn't, so I tolerated her when I had to and was grateful to only spend minimal time in her presence otherwise. However I didn't think much of you either and the feeling was mutual if you recall, yet look at us now. So I can't help wondering if my opinion of her will also improve on second acquaintance."

"Lo while it's true we didn't like each other when we met, over time we did warm to each other until the dislike we initially felt all but melted away." He reminded her gently. At her at her concurring nod, he inclined his head "So although there were still occasions when the aggravation between us was running high, there were also a lot of occasions when it wasn't there at all."

"Yeah but…."

He pressed a finger to her lips and continued "And as I mentioned once before, the only reason we felt like that in the first place was because we were just too young to understand, much less handle the desire we awoke in each other without even trying. So we attempted to negate it by saying we couldn't stand each other, thus deluding ourselves into believing that it never existed." He finished by stroking his finger down her cheek softly.

Her lips twisted in smiling acknowledgement "I really couldn't stand you."

"That's because you wanted me real bad." He teased softly.

"It's because I thought you were tedious." She returned deadpan.

"Ow, ok that hurt." He grinned and rubbed his chest "Annoying or frustrating I can accept, but tedious is really hitting below the belt."

"I don't anymore." She smiled and patted his chest consolingly "And I can promise that I never felt any dormant or latent desire for Lana."

"Thank goodness."

"I thought that kind of thing would turn you on?" She giggled lightly.

"It wouldn't!" Clark declared firmly "It's bad enough for a man to lose his girlfriend to another man, but losing her to a woman would be damned insulting."

"To his ego or his dick?" Lois asked politely and when his mouth opened she held up a hand to stay any comments "Don't tell me, it's one and the same."

Unwilling to confirm or deny he leant forward and pressed smiling lips to hers "Whether you like Lana or not is something only you can decide Lo, but you shouldn't have to try; it will either happen or it won't."

"I know." She agreed before remarking softly "Clark I'm not asking you to be her friend. To be frank, I'm not so liberal minded that I want to be more than passing acquaintances with any woman whose been done by the man I'm seeing, no matter how long ago it was."

He grinned at that but since he'd made it a point of asking Oliver how far his prior relationship with Lois had gotten before they'd broken up and had felt relieved at the answer, he couldn't disagree "I'm not that broadminded either. So let's hope we don't run into any of your ex lovers, or I'll have to punch them up just on principal."

She giggled and slapped his arm "Seriously though, I'm just saying that maybe Lana is genuinely regretful of all the time she's wasted and the thing's she's lost, so is hoping to put all that behind her and get a fresh start that's all."

"Maybe." He replied blandly, _and maybe I'll become a ballerina_ _but it's unlikely_ he finished silently. Uninterested in discussing his ex and her screwed up mind frame any further, he was relieved to hear the demanding bark from outside "The little shit's calling so I'd better go." After talking a long careful look at the punnet he set it down on the bench "Just so you know I've counted and know exactly how many strawberries are left, so don't try and steal any."

"I bought them." Lois retorted swiftly.

"You bought them for me." He reminded her loftily and picking up his cherries placed them on top "These are mine, so don't use them in the fruit salad." Ignoring her 'pfft' in response, he dug into another grocery bag then looked up at her accusingly "You kept these little treasures hidden on purpose didn't you?"

Lois saw him holding up a bag of Cheetos in one hand, and microwave popcorn in the other and nodded "Yep, I knew that when you saw the fruit you'd start eating it and leave the trash alone."

"That's why you purposely took the fruit out of the bag." He placed the items on the table and drilled his eyes into hers "But I'm sure it's not my health you were concerned about, which means you were hoping to keep these for yourself, weren't you?"

She bit her lip but the guilt on her face was unmistakeable.

"It's just as well that I hung around while you were unloading." He muttered loudly "Is there anything else you're trying to hide from me?"

"Don't be silly." Lois waved nonchalant.

At the second demanding bark from outside, he called loudly "I'm coming." Before turning to address her again "Right I'm off, but later on I'll be doing a thorough search of the house in case you try and hide anything else from me."

"Stop being paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid, I just don't trust you." He declared bluntly "Trying to keep all the yummy snacks to yourself should be a federal offence, and the perpetrators who commit such heinous acts should get life imprisonment."

"Will you get lost already?" She laughed and pushed him towards the door.

"I'm going, call me when lunch is ready."

"Yeah, yeah."

His eyes travelled up and down her form twinkling devilishly "Before I forget, we'll be having our cooking lesson after breakfast tomorrow, so if you haven't got a school uniform already then you'd better go and get one."

"What school uniform?" She frowned confused.

"The one you promised to wear when I helped you to make the food for the dance." He replied patiently.

"I didn't promise anything you liar." Lois retorted outraged.

"You did, you promised." Clark yelped while pointing at her accusingly.

"I said that I'll _think_ about it."

He folded his arms and glowered at her from under lowered brows "I distinctly heard you say, 'I swear by all that's holy I'll do anything you want me to Clark, anything'."

She stared at him blinking rapidly in amazement "You are unbelievable." At his bashful shrug she shook her head "I didn't mean that in a good way." When his smile turned into a pout, she told him slowly and succinctly "I'm going to wear an apron, got it."

"Will you be naked underneath it?"

"Are we going to be cooking or making x-rated movies?" She asked tartly. When his eyes widened and glowed, she sighed and rubbed her temple "What did you hear me say that time?"

"That you want to us to make a porno movie right here in the kitchen." He replied in awe struck wonder.

Her mouth fell open before snapping closed "Get out."

He trudged to the door in disappointment but whipped around to offer generously "No one will see it but me."

"_**Get!"**_

When Attila got tired of waiting and bounded into the kitchen to clamp his teeth onto the bottom of Clark's jeans to tug, she cocked her head to the side "what are you guys doing out there?"

"Manly things." He replied snottily and picking up the dog left with a backward wave.

"Meaning what?" Lois called out and receiving no reply called out again "What are manly things?" At the returned silence, she shrugged and figured that she was better of not knowing since more than likely 'manly things' was just a euphemism for vile, off, or moronic things.

oOo

_**6**__**th**__** August – 6pm**_

Clark tapped his fingers on the island impatiently, looked at his watch and called out "Babe are you ready?"

"Almost."

"That's what you said 15 minutes ago." He muttered back. Figuring he'd better hurry her up or they'd never leave, he strode up the stairs and towards the master bedroom.

Coming to a stop on the threshold he took in the picture she presented before walking forward slowly to take a seat on the bed. Nudging aside the dog who was lolling there, he ignored the mutt's soft growl as his eyes continued to sweep up and down missing no detail.

Her dress was the colour of rich deep blue; sexy and flirty were the only words he could use to describe it. The halter neckline and wide banding around the waist showcased her upper body superbly. The bare skin of her back made his hands itch to reach out and touch, the full skirt hit knee level drawing his eyes down all that glorious expanse of leg to her feet wrapped in the killer heels she favoured and he loved. His eyes trailed back up slowly and giving her a hot look, he lowered his voice and drawled "heLLo."

At the sexy inflection he put in the greeting, she giggled while silently purring 'thrrrrrr' in return.

Good grief he was handsome. It should be a sin for a man to look that good in a suit, and against the law for him to hide that delectable body of his under the suit in the first place. She sniffed the air unobtrusively. HOLY! What the hell aftershave was he wearing? Whatever it was she felt like throwing her panties at him.

To stop from throwing herself at his feet, she busily affixed her earrings and after spraying on perfume, turned in a slow circle "How do I look?"

"Beautiful with more than a dash of alluring." He told her truthfully.

"Thanks." She smiled and gave her hair a pat.

"But..."

"But what?" Swiftly spinning around she looked herself over in the mirror and seeing nothing out of place, turned and looked over her shoulder to inspect the rear view "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, but are those shoes appropriate?" Clark looked at the heels in distrust "I admit they make your legs look sexy but your toe was still giving you trouble only a couple of days ago, so won't those shoes just aggravate it again?"

She looked down, moved her feet this way and that to admire her shoes and nodded "Yep."

"Well if you already know that then why are you wearing them?" He asked logically.

"Because the only shoes that won't hurt my foot are _sensible_ ones." She retorted with a sneer.

His brows drew together in confusion "What's wrong with sensible shoes?"

"Nothing if you're a wearing them to work, everything if you're wearing them to a dance." She informed him patiently "I know my toe is going to be killing me by the end of the night and I'll likely end up wearing bedroom slippers everywhere for the next week, but I'll cheerfully pay the price for my vanity come tomorrow. Tonight I want to look fabulous."

He sighed, looked at the dog and shrugged "Women."

Ignoring that Lois turned to pick up her shawl and let out a squeal of surprise when Clark tugged her down to the bed. Looking up into his face she grinned "No hanky panky until after the dance. I didn't go to all the trouble of getting all dressed up just to stay at home."

"You like getting dressed up."

"That's not the point."

His fingers traced the edge of neckline down into the V of her breasts to caress the skin with a feather light touch before lips descended to lock with hers. Releasing her mouth a few minutes later, he rubbed his thumb over her jaw as his eyes moved over her face "When we get home, we're going to make love slowly."

"How slowly?"

"Very slowly; slowly enough to scare us." He confirmed softly.

"Is it the dress?"

His head shook back and forth "It's something and whatever it is I'm going to heed the call and take my time."

Since she felt the same way she certainly wasn't going to put up an argument, but couldn't resist teasing "And what if I don't want to?"

"You'll love it." He promised solemnly.

"Hmm..." She contemplated the idea for a moment before grinning "Ok, but for now we have to go."

"You need to fix your lipstick first." She nodded and began to rise only to have him tug her back down and claim her lips with his once again.

10 minutes later after much giggling and kissing, Lois managed to get free and quickly held up a hand "No more or we'll never leave."

Nodding reluctantly, Clark got to his feet and smoothed down his hair, smiling at her in the mirror "Don't forget where we left off."

Pushing her way in front she examined her makeup and after making the necessary repairs tucked the compact, lipstick and brush in her purse "have you put the food in the cooler?"

"Yep and I've put the cooler in truck, so the only thing left to do is put Attila in the barn."

Picking up her shawl she smiled at the dog "Come on boy it's time to go."

Hopping down off the bed, the animal trotted beside them out the house and to the barn. When Lois stepped inside she smiled in delight at seeing a little play centre that Clark had created for Attila "This is wonderful, it's like his own little play ground."

"That's what it is, a mini dog park." He smiled at the mutt and rolled his eyes "I figure this would be perfect for days when he doesn't want to be trapped inside the house, yet needs shelter if it's raining."

Her eyes tracked over the carpet of fake grass to the little sandpit, the piece of rope tied around a post for playing tug, his play matt and toys to the hideaway in the corner which also contained a bed and food bowls "This is the manly things you were doing together?"

"Yep, now that the harvesting is all finished I had some free time so figured why not."

She looked around the barn inspecting it carefully before asking "Is it safe for him though; I mean there aren't any insecticides he could get into or farm implements that he can hurt himself on right?"

"Nope, since I don't trust the little poke-nose not to go snooping around and get himself in trouble, I've put anything that could be dangerous to him up in the loft." He turned and pointed "And as you can see I've blocked access to the stairs high enough that he can't get up there so you don't have to worry."

"He's not a poke-nose he just has an inquisitive nature." She defended stoutly.

"That's not what you said when you found he'd had a good chew of your new bra." Clark reminded her simply.

"That bra cost me $90 bucks." Lois growlingly muttered.

"I know; that was one of the things you kept on screeching about when you found it." He mock shuddered "You scared me so much that I was happy to scoop up the beast scoot out of the house while you cooled down."

"I did not scare you."

"Baby you were shrieking like a banshee while waving that bra in my face, believe me I was terrified." Clark lied sincerely "I just couldn't figure out why you were having a go at me and not the puff-ball when it was his teeth marks in it not mine, but I didn't have the guts to ask in case you yelled at me some more."

"Well one of the books I've got said that unless you tell a dog off when you catch them in the act of their wrong behaviour, they won't understand what they're in trouble for." She replied logically.

"But why were you yelling at me?" He asked grieved.

"Because I didn't find my bra until after he'd wrecked it, and since I needed to yell at someone and you were the only one available, I had to make do." She explained patiently "But you don't have to worry because I've since caught Attila a couple of times and given him what for, so he now knows to leave my stuff alone."

"And now that he has his own little play centre, hopefully he'll stay out of both our things." Clark remarked optimistically.

Slipping an arm around his waist she leant forward and pressed her lips to his cheek "Thank you."

"He's a pest but I suppose that I have become fond of him." Clark groused as a matter of form.

Not fooled for one minute she nodded solemnly before calling the dog who was happily reinspecting his new play ground. Crouching down she smoothed a hand over his head "Ok boy we have to go but as you can see there are plenty of things to keep you occupied. Your water and kibble are just over there if you get hungry ok?" The dog looked to where she was pointing then back at her.

Seeing soulful eyes full of reproach aimed her way, Lois ran a hand over the animals back and smiled in apology when he put a paw on her knee "You'll be ok sweetie and we'll back before you know it."

At the mutt's forlorn face he felt sorry for the beast and bent down to pat him on the head "I'll purloin something yummy for you from the buffet table", he promised solemnly. Attila growled half heartedly then began to yip mournfully when Clark helped Lois to her feet "The longer we stay here consoling him, the guiltier you'll feel and then we'll never leave."

"I know you're right." She admitted grudgingly, but couldn't stop from feeling like a worm at hearing the animals whining howls when the board was put across the doorway and locked into place.

"He'll calm down in a few minutes." Likewise feeling like a brute for leaving the dog behind, Clark shook off the feeling of discomfort by using logic "Remember the first time we locked him out the bedroom and he carried on for ages, but when we went out later we found him happily playing with his toys, he'll be the same way now."

Nodding in agreement, she smiled at the barn entrance and shook her head "He knows how to make you feel guilty though doesn't he?"

"Oh yeah, he's got your number."

"And yours." She retorted rapidly.

Pretending he hadn't heard Clark placed his hand in the middle of her back and ushered her towards the truck "Let's go."

oOo

_20 minutes later_

Stepping into the hall Lois looked around the room in pleasure. The dimmed lighting, the multitude of fairy lights, the flowers and streamers had all turned an otherwise ordinary hall into something magical "It's beautiful."

"Yeah it's not bad." Clark agreed and began herding her in the direction of the buffet tables. After setting down their offerings they made their way around the room looking for their table and stopping to greet others in passing.

"Lois, Clark over here." Anne called out with a wave.

Seeing only women seated at the table and not wanting to get cornered into listening them burble on about junk he wasn't interested in, Clark looked around for his buddies and spotting some of the guys over by the bar, instantly decided that's where he was headed "Baby I'll get us a drink before the bar gets too crowded, what'd you feel like?"

"A glass of white wine please."

Nodding he turned in the direction of the bar and some male company.

oOo

"Hey Clark, it's good to see you buddy."

At the slap on his back he swung around and grinned at Dean "You too, when did you get here?"

"A couple of minutes ago..." He shifted his eyes to the side "When I saw that only ladies were present at the table I'm assigned to, I decided to head to the bar first."

Clark lips twitched in accord "Me too."

"Since Lois is sitting with Anne Beard, and that's where my date was headed after being called over, I figure we can go back and face the women together."

"And as Alan will be with Anne we'll find him and take him back with us too." Clark advised solemnly.

"Good idea, there's bravery in numbers." Dean remarked cheerfully.

Chuffing out a laugh he nodded before asking "So who's your date?"

"Ginny Andrews."

He frowned in query "I thought the two of you tried dating years ago but it didn't work out."

"Yeah but since we didn't have a big passionate relationship followed by an even more passionate breakup, we're fine." Dean replied honestly "She didn't have a date tonight so asked me if I'd do the honours, and as I hadn't asked anyone else at the time I was happy to do it."

"Are you sure the disinterest is just on your side? I mean if she asked you to be her date then maybe she wants to give it another go but doesn't want to be so blunt about it." Clark advised cautiously.

"Buddy I was trying to figure out how to tell Ginny I felt no romantic sparks without hurting her feelings, when she bit the bullet and told me." Dean smiled lopsided "It might be one thing to tell a woman that she doesn't light a fire in you, but it's not so pleasant being on the receiving end and hearing that you leave her cold."

"Yow."

"Yeah, I mean she didn't use those precise words but let's just say when she told me we should just be friends, I got the message loud and clear."

"Double yow." Clark clutched his heart and grinned.

"Yep once again, but since I'd been spared from having to endure an emotional weepy dumping scene, I decided to just count my blessings when the old ego was cut to the quick." Dean imparted with a flashing smile.

"Good thinking." Glancing over at their table Clark commented "Ok so Ginny, Lois and Anne are covered for with you, me and Alan, but whose Tina's date?"

Dean shrugged but his eyes were alight with laughter "I don't know, but if she's not here alone then I hope I'm not around when Mark finds out."

"When Mark finds out what?" He turned from the bar with a beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

Clark ran his tongue over his teeth cautiously "If Tina has a date or not?"

"She does."

The two men exchanged eye contact before looking at their friend "And?"

"And what?"

"And since you seem to be ok about it then I have to assume you plan to kill him later when there aren't so many witnesses around." Dean retorted bluntly.

Mark smiled genially and shook his head "Now why would I do that?"

"Because we know you" Clark riposted swiftly but at the nonchalant shrug he received in reply, his eyes narrowed in question "Whose Tina's date?"

"Me."

Nodding slowly in understanding why their friend was so complacent about the matter, the two men shared amused glances before turning to him with brows raised high in polite query.

He simply shook his head "Don't start."

"Start what, we haven't said a word." Dean replied automatically while Clark held up his hands in defence.

"Tina and I are here together but it's simply a convenience for both of us, nothing more."

"I've heard it called a lot of things but never a convenience, how about you Clark?" Dean asked innocently.

"Oh I've heard it called convenience but never with an ex you're still crazy about." He smirked rudely.

Arriving just in time to hear the last part, Tim looked from one man to the other "What's all this about?"

"Mark's here with Tina." Clark supplied helpfully.

His brows rose in accord as his lips crooked up "Really, well isn't this interesting?"

When the press of men at the bar began to grumble at them, the four quickly stepped to the side.

"It's not interesting, it's not anything." Mark shook his head "We're just friends."

Approaching the bar area Alan Beard saw the group of men at the side and noting all the grins being directed at one man in particular, joined them to enquire politely "Let me guess, you're talking about Mark being here with Tina?" At the nods he nodded in return then smiled quietly at Clark "Well after tonight I imagine that you and Lois will be knocked off the ladder as the most talked about couple in town."

Mark groaned, Clark grinned and slapped his friend on the back "Thanks buddy."

"There's nothing to talk about." At the hoots of derision, he sighed and took a sip of the wine he was holding in one hand, grimaced in distaste and sipped the beer he was holding in the other.

"If a woman has a hold of your heart then you might as well give in right now." Alan advised simply.

"Is that what happened to you Alan?" Dean asked tongue in cheek.

His nodded complacently "Yep, after Anne told me to give up, I did."

The men snickered then laughed when Tim nodded "He's right, I proposed we live together, Lucy replied that I'd better be proposing marriage or she'd give me a thick ear; she won."

"Well Tina and I aren't making plans to head down the altar." Mark pronounced firmly. At the snort from behind he swung around to the newest member to join the group "You have something to say?"

"You and Tina have been doing this crazy dance for way too long and it's getting old buddy." Neil replied unflinching at the narrowed eyes "Whatever your problems are solve them already, but don't try and tell us that you don't intend to marry that woman because I'll call you a liar to your face."

"So will I." Grahame Anderson threw in as a general greeting to all.

Seeing the same look on the faces around him Mark gulped down his beer before admitting reluctantly "Ok look, Tina and I got back together a little over three weeks ago but we didn't say anything in case we jinxed it. The subject of marriage hasn't been brought up and it's going to stay that way for now. We're together again and that's enough for both of us, happy?"

The men nodded as one.

"And how are things going?" Alan asked curiously.

"Good, we knew that everyone would talk when they saw us here together but we didn't want to come with anyone else." He looked at his friends seriously "Give me all the shit like, but don't say anything to make Tina uncomfortable ok?"

"Hey you know that we only have a go at you in fun, but we wouldn't do or say anything that could hurt either of you." Dean replied seriously.

"Or your relationship." Tim added sincerely.

"Yeah I know." He bobbed his head and smiled lopsided at his single friends "By the way, thanks for not swooping in on her after we broke up."

"Which time?" Clark asked tongue in cheek.

"Either." He laughed in return.

"Well everyone knew that broken up or not, it was only a matter of time before you were back together." Neil answered honestly.

Mark's lips twisted ruefully in acknowledgment.

"Which is how I knew that you had no intention of hitting on Lois, correct?" Clark asked directly.

Mark nodded slowly.

"Just as well, because I have a feeling that being broken up wouldn't have stopped Tina from kicking your ass from one side of town to the other and back again."

Mark rolled his eyes but didn't refute the claim.

"Just as I'm sure that if any of us tried to move in on her, you would have cheerfully bloodied our noses for us." Dean concluded swiftly.

"Yeah I would have." He admitted freely and the men smiled crookedly in understanding.

"So now that everything's ok in paradise, does that mean Tina doesn't think you're a..." Clark's brow wrinkled "What'd you say she called you again?"

"A bottom feeding scum sucking dirt bag" Mark answered without pause.

The men's shoulders shook silently with laughter.

"And that was one of the nicer things she yelled." He shook his head in admiration "I already knew the woman had an impressive set of lungs but I've since learnt that she has an impressive vocabulary to go with them." He leant forward and admitted low voiced "I'm not really sure that I prefer honey bunny, but I'll take it over being referred to as the misbegotten son of Satan, any day of the week."

The men guffawed and noticing the sounds of voices had considerably risen in the hall, they looked around and figuring it was way past time they returned to their dates, moved as one towards the bar. Throwing a quick look over his shoulder towards the table area Clark rolled his eyes and commented "Just look at them; they're giggling together like school girls."

The men turned as one, saw the women and likewise rolled their eyes.

After a brief hesitation Mark admitted reluctantly "You know, seeing them like that kind of makes me nervous."

They exchanged eye contact and bobbed their heads fractionally in agreement.

"Do you think they're talking about us?" Grahame muttered low voiced.

"If they're not doing it already they might start doing it soon." At Tim's words their eyes flared in alarm.

"Anne wouldn't talk about me." Alan put in placidly.

Tim snorted loudly in ridicule of that statement "Oh yeah you reckon? Take another gander and say that again."

As suggested he glanced over and when Anne looked up and sent him a little smiling wave before turning back to giggle with her friends, he turned back to the men "I think that I was wrong."

Firming his voice Tim looked at all in unity "Let's get served fast and get back over there pronto. We need to split them up quick before they begin comparing notes."

Nodding decisively the men stepped up to the bar and began waving at the bartenders to gain their attention.

oOo

After greeting the ladies present and making herself comfortable, Lois smiled at one in particular "You did a great job Anne, the hall looks really lovely."

She smiled in pleasure "Thanks but I can't take all the credit, it was a joint effort from everyone involved."

"Hi." Pulling out her seat Ginny Roberts joined the group and had just gotten comfortable when Lucy Watson pulled out a vacant seat and planted herself "Tim's headed over to the bar, so I thought I'd come over and say hi since no one's at my table just yet."

After a new round of greetings were exchanged, Anne was once again praised for the decoration of the hall, then compliments were exchanged on each other's outfits, swiftly followed by glances around to see what the other women were wearing, culminating in a chat about that.

Once those subjects had all been exhausted Lois frowned and looked over towards the bar. Only able to catch a glimpse or two of Clark with the number of people milling past her line of vision she gave up "Has Clark gone to press the grapes himself? How long does it take him to get me a glass of wine?"

After likewise trying to see past the masses, Ginny got to her feet looked around and seeing the knot of men, retook her seat to announce dryly "I think we've been forgotten. They're all standing near the bar gasbagging to each other."

The women automatically turned as one, managed to catch glimpses of the men and shook their heads.

"Do you think if I put a hand to my throat and mime that I'm gasping for a drink, that Clark will get the message?" Lois asked curiously.

"Nope, but I guarantee that if you go over there and whisper to him that you want to get it on right here, you'll be able to pry him away from his buddies for 5 minutes at least." Lucy retorted tongue in cheek.

Snorting out a laugh she nodded and picked up the jug of water in the centre of the table "I might as well have some of this since I'm not going to get my drink anytime soon; anyone else want some?" Since 4 glasses were pushed forward she took that as a yes.

Taking a sip of water she titled her head in curiously "Where's Peter?"

"He's staying with mom and dad tonight which is great for me, because I have very definite plans for my husband when we get home later." Anne smiled and wiggled her brows for emphasis.

"The minute I saw Tim in his suit I told him the same thing." Lucy threw in cheerfully.

"Clark told me." Lois chuckled lightly.

"Well I'm here with Dean and as you all know we're just friends, so I simply intend to have a nice time at the dance and snuggle up with some comfort food later." Ginny informed them loftily "But just so you know, I hate you all."

"Why do you hate them?" Kate Fulcher asked and sent a smile round the group in greeting before fixing her eyes on Kate. When brought up to speed she grinned and added cheerfully "You'll have to add me to that list."

"Grahame's at the bar right?"

She rolled her eyes "He's supposed to be at the bar but it looks like he's gossiping, and since all of you were over here I decided to join you; I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not, make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks." She pulled out a seat and made herself comfortable "I think you and Tim are sitting at my table Lucy."

"We are but since you hadn't arrived when I got here, and the rest of our party seems to be milling around in the hall greeting others, I decided to come over here and join in rather than sitting there by myself and feeling like a twit." She replied with a quick laugh.

"Me too so I get it." Kate smilingly replied.

"And me." Anne, Ginny, Tina and Lois all tossed in one after another.

"Ok, so I know who everyone's here with except for you." Lois addressed Tina "Who's your date?"

"Mark Thompson." She supplied with a slight smile.

Lucy, Kate and Ginny's brows rose high in surprise as their lips curved, while Anne simply smiled. Seeing the looks Lois' brow wrinkled "What have I missed?" The women grinned wider and Tina flushed lightly "Ok, now I have to know what's going on; c'mon spill."

Blushing lightly, she smoothed her dress "This time last year Mark and I were engaged, but we had a huge fight just before Christmas and broke up. We did get back together a month later but broke up again less than a week after that, so us being here together is bound to cause comment."

"Did the two of you intend to break up, or did things just get out of hand through no one's fault?" Lois asked delicately.

Tina saw a mixture of curiosity and compassion aimed at her "It was a stupid pointless misunderstanding that got out of hand, but it was my fault that it went on for so long and I'm the one who broke the engagement." She admitted regretfully "I can be pretty stubborn and although Mark's a fairly laidback guy he still has his pride. However, when he swallowed it and came to make up with me a few days later I wasn't done being angry with him, so I sent him away." She paused to take a deep breath "We broke up the second time when he confessed to having a fling with some bimbo that he picked up, after I refused to forgive him for our fight."

Lois winced in sympathy "I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but since I'm the one who told him that we were through, then I have no one except myself to blame when he accepted the sub-standard favours offered to him, by the first brass-faced trollop to cross his path." She muttered gloomily.

Wanting to laugh at her description but knowing that she wasn't trying to be humorous, the women bit the inside of their cheeks to stop any snickers from popping out.

Clearing her throat softly Lucy asked carefully "So are the two of you back together, or is tonight just a trial run kind of thing?"

Perking up instantly Tina smiled hugely in reply "We're back together. I asked him to explain about his fling with the bimbo and although he didn't want to bring it up again, I had to know _why_ he'd done it."

"What'd he say?"

"He was angry and hurt because I'd refused his apology and said we should break up, so did it to prove to himself that he didn't care a damn about me either, and later regretted it."

"Well we've all done asinine things without any forethought and later regretted it." Lois admitted truthfully, and all the ladies nodded in accord.

"True." Tina agreed feelingly.

At her tone their brows all rose "Did you get even?" Ginny asked frankly.

"No." She shook head and smiled crookedly "I did think about it and went to a nightclub with friend of mine with that precise idea in mind, but settled for going back to her place, getting drunk and verbally bashing men instead."

"We'll we've also gotten drunk and bad-mouthed men, or thought of getting even in some way too." Ginny remarked cheerfully.

"Amen!" The women all agreed readily, causing them to all look at each other and grin in unity.

"When I told Mark about getting even he was less than impressed." Tina smirked readily.

"What'd he say?" Anne asked curiously.

When she bent forward and crooked her finger, the ladies all followed suit and giggling lightly Tina confessed "Let's just say that when he growlingly informed me it was a good thing that all I did was get drunk and call him obscene names; I realised Mark wasn't the easy going man I'd previously taken him to be."

The women smiled crookedly in understanding "Well they mostly all have their limits, and my Alan is no exception to that rule."

Hearing the smug tone in Anne's voice their smiles grew wider.

"You love it." Kate stated gleefully.

"Mmm hmm." Anne nodded gleefully "Alan might have been reserved before realising my pursuit of him was serious, but once he did all bets were off." She looked over towards the bar, smiled and sent her husband a little wave before turning back to the women "Most people only get to see the quiet sedate man I'm married to, but I get the whole package and let me tell you that man can be pretty intense, especially when we're...y'know."

The women chortled secretively and turning to her friend, Anne held out a hand "Sorry, so to get back to your story. You and Mark got back together, you told him about your wild night which didn't amount to much except for some name calling and he was glad about that."

"Right, but using the word glad isn't correct. He was more pissed that I'd even considered doing anything else in the first place." She twinkled and fluffed her hair sassily causing the women to titter in appreciation "Anyway after he finished fuming and stomping around about that, we had a good long talk, got everything out on the table and agreed to leave it all in the past."

Kate cocked a brow in query "so how'd you get back together?"

Tina grinned widely "I'm sure everyone's heard about Lois helping Irma a few weeks ago, and Steve subsequently running his truck into my car to avoid hitting her?" The ladies all nodded in unison "Well Mark heard about the accident and dropped round to make sure that I was alright."

Lois burst out laughing "You weren't even in the vicinity at the time."

"I know and although I was sure the grapevine Mark heard the news from would have made it clear that I hadn't been hurt or involved, I thought it would be rude to point that out to him." She smiled demurely.

"So instead you tried to think of something quick to keep him there right?" Ginny asked tongue in cheek.

"Yes." Tina admitted without shame "Anyway, I explained that I was fine but my car hadn't fared so well, then I asked if he cared to have something cool to drink since he'd come all that way on such a hot day just to see me..."

"All that way, at most he lives 20 minutes from your place, and that's only if a herd of cows is blocking the road for 10 of those minutes." Anne cut in with a soft snort of amusement.

"Leave me alone I had to think fast." Tina rebuked her friend gently before pointing out snottily "Besides, since Mark replied that he'd very much appreciate a cold drink because it was so hot, he clearly didn't think my comment was odd, so there."

"And even if he did, I'm sure he didn't want to be rude by pointing that out to you either." Lois put in straight faced.

Tina tittered softly in agreement "Anyway, he came in for beer, then stayed for dinner and didn't leave until well after breakfast the next morning."

"Oooh breakfast." Lucy remarked slyly and at Tina's proud nod, the women grinned even wider.

Tina reached over squeezed Lois' hand "Thanks for falling over and getting Steve to run his truck into my car to avoid hitting you. It was the best accident that could have happened to me."

"Happy to oblige." She supplied cheerfully and seeing the group of men heading their way, sat back in her seat "And it looks like the guys have remembered we're here at last."

"Either that or they've run out of manly things to talk about because they're coming en masse." Ginny snickered softly.

At Tim's wave and Grahame's beckoning smile, Lucy and Kate got to their feet and took their leave to join their partners.

oOo

_30 minutes later_

Carefully twirling Lois out of his arms and back again Clark smiled "Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah I am, it's fun." She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the couple dancing a few feet away "I thought that I'd been brought up to date about all the happenings in town, but I never had the faintest inkling that Tina and Mark used to be an item."

"That's because the gossip about them died down a while ago so unless something happened to cause comment, like them coming here together for instance, there was nothing to talk about." He replied matter of fact.

Lois bobbed her head "Well I know Tina's happy and he seems to be too so I'm glad they worked it out."

"So am I." He replied cheerfully and at her raised brows, confessed "There's a bet on when they'll get married and if I win, I stand to gain over a thousand bucks."

Lois' mouth fell open "You're betting on if they'll get married?"

"Not if; when." He corrected breezily "Merv Chesney who runs the farmers market is holding the kitty." At her raised brows he explained "See when they'd been dating for a while, bets were laid on for when they'd get married, and when they got engaged it really kicked into high gear, but when they broke up it was put on hold because everyone expected them to get back together. Well they did but then they broke up again almost immediately afterwards, so we pretty much threw up our hands in defeat and decided that we just couldn't trust them anymore.…" At Lois' giggle, he shook his head sadly "I'm telling you; the talk on the street was that they were purposely toying with our feelings…."

"What feelings; you lot were gambling on them."

"We all need to have a hobby." Clark replied with wounded dignity and ignored her soft snort "Anyway, it was decided that as they couldn't seem to make up their minds one way or the other, all betting would go into a permanent holding pattern for the time being, and when they made up we'd give them a month just to be sure it was going to stick before it started up again. So as Mark told us they made up 3 weeks ago, and I can guarantee that bit of news has already been conveyed to Merv and is making the rounds even as we speak, then in a week's time anyone who's already in the pool like me will be calling Merv to pick a date, and anyone who's not already in it will be stopping by to see him and plunking their money down to join in."

"Tina didn't mention anything about them getting engaged again." She remarked thoughtfully.

"So what?" Clark grunted softly "Mark told us that being together is enough for him, but ask me if I believe that?"

"You don't?"

"He's a good friend of mine babe, so I know he won't be content until he's got his ring on her finger." He confirmed soft voiced.

She leant forward and whispered "In that case I want in."

He chuckled in reply "Most everyone's in including mom."

"What'd I have to do?"

"Just give Merv $20 dollars, and pick a date for when you think they'll get married. Whoever's closest wins."

"What if I want a date that someone else has already picked?"

"The prize money's split."

She nodded, looked around then turned back to Clark "People aren't waiting a week. I just saw someone hand him some money but I couldn't tell who it was."

He looked over, saw Irma Williams cross paths with Mavis Dixon as one lady walked away from Merv's table while the other headed towards it, and grinning with delight announced "The pots going to be huge by the time everyone's done." Spinning Lois around, he dipped her, kissed her then brought her back up "If I win I'll take you out for a fancy meal."

"You mean that you'll be taking me to eat at the Talon." She asked unimpressed.

Clark chuckled lightly "Nope I'll take you to a nice restaurant in Metropolis and we'll do it up big."

"Ok, and if I win I'm going to buy myself these really nice shoes that cost the bomb." She smiled gleefully.

He frowned insulted "You're not going to spend any of your winnings on me?"

"Get real." Lois snorted indelicately.

"Fine, then you can forget about the fancy meal."

"You can do me while I'm wearing the shoes." She smiled winningly.

He licked his lips intrigued "They're high heels right?"

"They're very high, cherry red, strappy and glittery." She batted her lashes flirtatiously and told him low voiced "They're what's commonly known as fuck me shoes."

"In that case baby you name the restaurant and we're going." He promised solemnly.

Lois threw her head back in laughter, and leaning forward Clark pressed his lips to hers once again.

Unaware of how closely they were being monitored, he brought her into the circle of his arms and began to sway her gently when the music segued into a soft ballad.

oOo

Merv Chesney picked up his drink to sip but paused when Irma Williams appeared at his side with the pronouncement "I want to get my money in."

He frowned confused "Aren't you already in the pool?"

"The one for Mark and Tina yes and I'll get back to you with a date, but for now I want know if you're going to start a book for when those two are going to be hitched..." She thumbed over her shoulder at Clark and Lois "...because if not then you're falling down on the job."

He looked to where the she'd pointed and replied indifferently "No point, from what I hear Lois is only supposed to be here for the summer and the Kent boy is just fine with that."

"Oh we've all heard that bit of guff…" Irma huffed impatiently "…_but_, supposed to be doesn't mean that she will and Clark looks just as determined to hold onto her, as his daddy did when he was courting Martha."

"That's as maybe, but Lois is far from the first woman that Clark has escorted to the town dance over the years, so who's to say she'll be the last?" He asked mildly.

Aggravated at his obstinacy Irma planted her fists on her hips and retorted snappily "Merv Chesney, anyone with a lick of sense can see that Lois is _**not**_ just another one of Clark's lady friends and if you can't, then maybe it's time you got your eyes checked…" She ignored his inarticulate protest, and steamrolled on "…and if you can't tell that those two are made for each other, then maybe there's no more romance in your soul and we need to get a new town bookie."

"He's teasing you Irma." Sylvia Chesney intervened hastily "When he saw Lois and Clark in the farmers market a week ago, he said they looked happier than two pigs in a mud puddle and anyone who couldn't figure out there'd soon be a wedding in the works, didn't have the sense that god gave a goose." She smiled and patted his hand "My husband may not be the world's greatest poet, but there's plenty of romance in him yet and when it comes to smelling orange blossom in the air, there's no one better."

"Why Merv, you old rascal, I take back everything I said." Irma chortled appreciatively.

He smoothed a hand over his ample belly and preened under their combined praise.

Pulling $20 out of her purse, she slapped it on the table "I'll have to think about the date but I wanted to get my money in now."

After chatting for a few minutes with the table occupants she turned to make her way back to her own. Seeing Mavis coming in her direction, she sent her a knowing smile and almost laughed out loud at the decided sparkle in the woman's eyes as she likewise made a beeline for Merv.

oOo

When the sixth person approached him with their request Merv held up a hand "I'm not taking anymore tonight."

"But..."

"Son, we don't want either Lois or Clark to get suspicious; so let's be discreet ok?"

Tim nodded reluctantly in agreement "Fine, I'll come and see you tomorrow but put me down for October 31."

"Halloween?"

"Yep; something tells me it won't be a long wait." He replied confidently.

oOo

Pulling the car into an available spot, Lana switched of the ignition and after retrieving both her purse and the dish that had been placed on the passenger seat, climbed from the car and made her way towards the hall. Between the beckoning music and the greetings thrown in her direction from people loitering outside, she felt her anticipation for a lovely night grow along with the butterflies in her tummy.

She always felt nervous arriving at events alone, and although she'd lived in Smallville years before, it was still daunting having to walk into a hall full of people and feeling like a stranger until she spotted someone that she knew. That part wasn't hard because there were many people who still lived here when she used to, but that didn't make them friends. Some were people she knew somewhat in school, others were just acquaintances she'd said hello to in passing, while others she'd never met since they'd moved to the town after she'd left. The good part was that she could spend the next hour making polite conversation if necessary, but she wanted to fit in so hoped that she'd find someone that she knew well in the mass of people quickly.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside the hall and made her way directly to the buffet tables to place her offerings in an empty spot, before making a beeline for the bar. Once served and feeling braver with a drink in hand, she looked around and smiled inwardly in relief when she saw Anne Beard enter the main hall from passage leading to the facilities.

Keeping her eyes on the woman she watched as Anne made her way through the throng, and took a seat beside her husband. Scanning her eyes over the occupants, Lana felt better again at seeing a number of people she knew and headed in the same direction.

"Hi everyone."

Conversation ceased as all turned to flood the newcomer with either smiles of greeting, or welcome back compliments.

"Would you like to join us Lana?" Anne asked kindly and at the grateful acceptance, she turned to her husband "Honey can you please grab Lana a chair while the rest of us squish up a bit to make some room."

Alan nodded and returned a few minutes later with a chair which was placed in the spot that had been created.

"Thank you." Taking a seat she looked around the hall once again before remarking "I heard that you were in charge of the decoration committee Anne and I have to say you've done a beautiful job, the hall looks really lovely."

"Thanks, I had fun and a great team to help put it all together, so I'm glad people like it." She replied then grinned in delight when her husband cuddled her against him and whispered "When we get home tonight I'm going to show you how much I appreciate all your hard work."

She turned her face to smile into his eyes and replied low voiced "If I don't drag you outside to have my way with you before the dance is over, we'll be lucky."

"You won't have to drag." He promised solemnly and pressing his lips to her cheek, smiled at her responding gurgle before both turned their attention back to the conversation at the table.

When dinner was announced 15 minutes later, Lois smiled in happiness "Thank goodness, I thought that I was going to have to start eating the flower arrangement just to get something to eat."

Clark cleared his throat and opened his mouth to comment, but closed it again when she turned and eyeballed him "Don't say anything."

He grinned and slipping an arm around her waist, patted her hip "how about we get in line before the queue get's too long; am I allowed to say that?"

"Yep."

oOo

_45 minutes later_

When the music started up again after supper was cleared away the dance became less formal. Some people took to the dance floor, others strolled outside to get some fresh air with their significant others, while still others began table hopping to greet and catch up with each other. The children played on the swing sets out the back under the watchful eyes of several adults, and the teenagers congregated in groups to bond with those their own age.

"I'm just going to reapply my lipstick and be back soon ok?" At Clark's nod, Lois picked up her purse and made her way to the ladies.

Making his way over Neil greeted all present, before turning the newest member to the table "Would you care to dance Lana?" At the question she smiled in pleasure "I'd love to, thanks." Following him onto the floor, they joined the other couples and were soon lost in the throng.

"How about we go outside for a stroll?" At Alan's suggestion Anne bobbed her head in approval, and getting to their feet excused themselves with the assurance they'd be back shortly.

"You know a stroll sounds pretty good to me too." Mark told Tina softly and at her twinkling eyes, gestured with his head towards the front doors "C'mon." Grinning she took his hand and likewise promising to be back soon they also made their way outside.

"By any chance do you feel like going for a stroll too Clark?" Dean asked tongue in cheek.

His smiled flashed out like quicksilver "Why; are you asking me?"

"Oh yeah buddy, I can't think of anyone I'd rather go for a romantic stroll with on a night like this than you." Dean replied with a laugh.

"Would you like me to leave you two alone?" Ginny asked aloud.

At their smirks, she shook her head and tapped her date on his shoulder "How about asking me to dance."

"Aw do I have to?" He mock groaned theatrically.

"Yes." She demanded snippily.

Getting to his feet Dean mock grumbled "Well come on then."

Rolling her eyes she likewise got to her feet "What a guy."

"Thanks." He puffed out his chest.

"I didn't mean it as a compliment."

"Sure you did." Continuing to teasingly bicker they made their way to the floor.

Shaking his head after them Clark picked up his drink and sipped. Seeing Lois returning to the hall he smiled in anticipation of getting her to take a stroll with him, then sighed in disappointment when she was caught for a chat by some people from another table. Getting to his feet he made his way to Irma Williams and asked the old lady if she'd care for a dance. At the smile of delight her face, he held out his hand and led her to the floor.

oOo

Repairing to the bar after escorting Irma and a couple of other older ladies for a turn on the dance floor, Clark exchanged light conversation with a few of the men while waiting to be served before returning to his seat.

Looking around for Lois he sighed at finding her dancing with Ira Newkirk. Figuring that his best bet was just to wait at the table for her to return or they'd keep missing each other for the rest of the night, he picked up his drink, settled back into his seat comfortably and was soon joined by others at his table.

"Thanks Neil, I enjoyed that." Lana smiled and retook her seat.

"Me too." He bobbed his head before addressing his friend "Hey Clark, has Lois ditched you?"

"Yep, she was talking with some people earlier and is now dancing with Ira." He replied before lifting a brow in query "Who are you here with?"

"No one." Neil shrugged unconcerned "The bar looks a little less crowded so I'm going to get myself a drink; would you care for anything Lana?"

"I'd love another white wine please." He nodded and turned to Clark "Want anything buddy?"

"Nah I'm good thanks."

Bobbing his head in accord, Neil left and returned presently "Here you go." At her thanks he inclined his head "Welcome, I'd stay and chat but I have to go over and talk to the folks for a bit. It's nice to see you again Lana."

"You too."

Turning to Clark he made a joking comment, laughed at the responding witticism he received in reply and strode off with causal wave.

When it was just the two of them Lana looked at Clark from the corner of her eye and tried to think of something brilliant to talk about. Unable to think of anything and unwilling to sit in uncomfortable silence she fell back on the familiar "How have you been?"

"I've been really good, you?" He asked picking up his beer to sip.

She shrugged apathetically "I've been ok, could be better."

"That's nice."

At his response she grit her teeth and held back from remaking tartly that he clearly wasn't paying any attention if he thought it was nice, when she'd made it obvious that she was anything but.

Taking a deep breath she tried again "How's your mom?"

"She's good."

Lana nodded and also picked up her drink to sip "The farm?"

"Good."

"Can't you say anything but good?" She asked frustrated.

He frowned perplexed "They are good, what more do you want me to say?"

"I don't know but I'm trying really hard to make conversation here, and you're not even attempting to hold up your end of it." She retorted nettled.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose "Lana, you turn up in Smallville at least once a year and beyond exchanging polite conversation when we pass each other in the street, we hardly interact at all. So what do you want me to talk about exactly?"

"Well how about what I've been doing, or where I've been; is that too much to ask?" She replied calmly but with a touch of asperity in the tone.

"Fair enough..." He nodded and asked amiably "So Lana what have you been doing with yourself?"

"Since you clearly have no interest in knowing just forget about it."

"Oh for fucks sake"Clark cursed under his breath before silently yelling for someone, anyone to come and rescue him.

Wishing that she hadn't reacted so childishly Lana bit her lip then felt her face heat at his muttered imprecation. Trying to recover her composure, she picked up her drink and taking a peek at him from the corner of her eye, felt her tummy flutter at just how good he looked.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing of the boy she'd known years ago in the man sitting beside her now. His face was wholly masculine with no sign of softness. His voice deep and husky with not even a tremor of uncertainty or shyness and while laughing and joking with his friends, his smile had flashed out sharp and bright with no hint of sweetness. He exuded masculinity from his very pores.

Years ago she'd loved having Clark under her thumb, now she was intensely attracted to the confidence that exuded from him in waves.

Taking a sip of her drink for a shot of liquid courage she commented casually "I saw Lois in the Talon yesterday."

"Yeah she mentioned it."

"I didn't realise you were seeing each other."

"You only arrived in town yesterday so how could you?" He asked logically.

"I mean Lois didn't mention it when I was talking to her."

"Why would she?"

"I don't know." She blew out a soft breath and took another sip of wine "I thought she was only here on holiday."

"Hmmm." He replied non-committal.

Resisting the urge to kick him she took another sip of her drink and gratefully held out her hand in acceptance when Leo Turner, a gentleman in his 60's asked her to dance.

She'd no sooner left than the rest of his table companions returned, and figuring it was time to reclaim his date, Clark got to his feet then sat back down when she called merrily over his shoulder "I'm back" and slipped into her seat.

"So I see." He replied dryly and tapped his watch "I'm just going to refresh my lipstick you said. However, since that was almost half an hour ago, I'm guessing you forgot to mention that you had to manufacture the lipstick yourself."

Lois chuffed out a laugh and slapped his arm "I also got to chatting and dancing."

"So the next time you tell me that you have to refresh your lipstick, I'll take that to read..." He lifted his fingers and crooked them in the quote sign "...'I'm blowing you off Clark' correct?" He asked sweetly.

She leant over and whispered in his ear "If you don't stop baiting me, then you can forget about associating the word blow with me, in regards to you ever again."

Patting her thigh in reassurance, he mimed zipping his lips closed and smiled charmingly.

Giggling lightly she pressed her lips to his but drew back at his soft murmur "What?"

"I said; how about we go outside and stargaze for a little while?" He asked softly then groaned at the announcement that desert would be shortly be ready "Let me guess, you want desert right?"

"Of course." Lois replied simply.

oOo

While the tables were being cleared and before the music could start up, Clark figured he'd better act fast or miss out again and murmured to Lois "Now it's our turn to go for a stroll." Not giving her time to argue he got to his feet, clasped her hand in his and tugged her up gently.

"Going somewhere Clark?" Mark smirked knowingly.

"Lois needs some fresh air."

"And you?"

"I'm going to help her get it." He grinned lasciviously then let out a small 'oof' when her elbow connected with his side.

Turning to leave with his friend's laughter ringing in his ears, he paused when the hall lights dimmed and the music began. Watching as couples took the floor he turned to Lois and smiled charmingly "I think a stroll in the moonlight would be a lot more beneficial then shuffling around in a stuffy hall."

Unmoved, her eyes narrowed "We're dancing!"

"Fine!" He grumbled and slipping an arm around her waist ushered her onto the floor "Maybe we could neck right here."

"I thought you wanted to go for a stroll." She asked innocently.

"You are so naive..." He shook his head sadly and brought her into the circle of his arms "Well since I've missed out on that, how about blowing in my ear then giving it a little nibble while you're at it."

Giggling she smoothed her hand up his back and nestled her head into the crook between shoulder and neck "At home I'll nibble all you like."

"Promise?"

"Mmm."

Giving her a tight hug in thanks, he began to move her around the floor with enthusiasm, singing loudly and cheerfully along with Johnny Mathis to Wonderful, Wonderful.

Lois tried to resist, but the combination of the song itself and Clark's zeal was too much, and she also began to sing loudly along to the lyrics.

The two smiled widely at each other as they continued to dance and sing unconcerned of the spectacle they were making. It wasn't long before other voices raised in joyful exuberance joined in.

At the conclusion of the song, the clapping that usually happens after such an incident was accompanied by cheers of enthusiasm that became almost deafening, when Clark swept Lois into a deep dip and kissed her heartily to the delight of all present.

oOo

Grinning at the spectacle Neil mentally waved bye-bye to another one of his single friends, and turning around saw that Dean also had a knowing smirk etched on his face.

Making his way over he patted his friend on the back "We're the only two left to keep the flag flying my friend."

Dean nodded sadly in agreement "Yep; Tim went down a couple of years ago to Lucy, Mark's days are all but numbered and now Clark's the latest to be hit by cupid's arrow."

Sighing heavily he likewise nodded "I never thought I'd see the day when he'd settle down with one woman; you?"

"Nope, and I have a feeling that if Lois hadn't arrived in town and thrown him for a loop, he wouldn't have." Dean shook his head dismally "What's happening to our buddies?"

"Women, that's what's happening." Neil advised sagely "Well I can tell you right now, I'm never getting caught in one of their nets."

"Me either; I mean I like women as much as the next man, but is that any reason to go falling for one and tying yourself down to her?" He scratched his head confounded before reminiscing pleasantly "Remember the time we were playing pool over at the hall and that pretty little thing came in. Clark just strolled right on over, began chatting her up and the next thing you know, she's giggling and hanging off his arm?"

"I felt like hitting him with my pool cue." Neil replied candidly.

"I almost did." Dean admitted openly "But thinking of that makes me realise Clark's downfall actually works in our favour." When Neil's brows shot up, he grinned big and wide "Well there's three of them out of the running now, which means there's less competition and more women for us."

"That's true, plus with a bit of luck we can also hopefully make a few bucks on both his and Mark's impending doom." Neil grinned with relish and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Who do you thinks going to make that scary walk to the altar first?"

"I don't know but I'm thinking that Merv should consider making a side bet on it." Neil snorted out a laugh.

Dean grinned, opened his mouth to comment but turned at the tug on his sleeve to find Irma Williams standing at his elbow "How about dancing with me handsome."

Smiling at the old woman he held out hand "I'd love to."

"Aren't I handsome enough for you Irma?" Neil asked disappointed.

"You certainly are and I'll be coming for you next." She smiled cheerfully.

oOo

Lana watched them dance while her mind ticked over her relationship with Clark and all that she'd learnt this night.

She'd told him years ago that she'd left because she was scared of getting into another relationship so quickly after her divorce, but she'd lied through her teeth. She'd left because she was bored.

Prior to that she'd thought all the trials and tribulations they went through just to be together were bitterly unfair and cruelly heartbreaking. Then she discovered that a lifetime of harmonious normality with Clark on the farm, without any disasters looming on the horizon wasn't a prize worth having and pretending it was became so intolerable, that she would have preferred the heartbreak which while painful, was less so than the daily drudgery their lives had become.

It was boring, they were boring; that's why she'd left.

It took her 6 months to come to her senses and realise what she was throwing away and honestly hadn't expected much, if any opposition from Clark in getting back together. She figured that he'd be upset and had anticipated reeling him in then holding him off while beginning their mating dance all over again, but never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he'd slam the door in her face. While that hadn't been pleasant she'd looked forward to a new twist in the old game, only to find out that Clark had removed himself from it, and she was now a lone player.

She realised he was serious when they talked the next day, and for the first time in the history of ever, she lost in a battle of wills and wits to Clark. That was also the first time she realised that when they'd argued previously, he'd let her win and walk away unscathed. This time he hadn't. He'd taken the honours and left her feeling like a fool.

When she came back a couple of months later fully expecting him to be profuse with apologies and was dismissed even more brutally, she'd felt like screaming with vexation. That was the final straw. She hadn't been prepared to forgive that humiliation easily, and although she no longer wanted him back, she did long to teach him a lesson that he wouldn't soon forget. So she began returning yearly with the intention of reclaiming his heart then slapping him down for his less than flattering rejection. However it wasn't him who'd been caught but her. His continual aloofness which at first pricked her ego and piqued her interest making her all the more determined to recapture him, reluctantly won her respect and ultimately her affection.

Unfortunately Clark hadn't been receptive to any of the lures she'd thrown out and as they hadn't exchanged any but the most banal of conversations over the years, she'd never taken the time to realise that just as she'd changed, so had he.

It was while she was dancing with Leo that the truth hit her between the eyes; she'd been trying to get Clark back the wrong way. He wasn't the same sweet and shy boy who used to follow her around like a lost puppy. He was a man who was comfortable in his own skin, who'd been around the block, was bluntly spoken and didn't suffer fools gladly. So trying to play him like she used to when they were teenagers was of course doomed to fail.

At the hooting and applause to the spectacle of Clark kissing Lois, Lana came out of her reverie and pursed her lips in contemplation.

They looked happy but since Lois had told her that she hadn't been back in Smallville for long, then their relationship had to be new and as everyone knew, the early stages of a relationship was exciting but took no genuine effort since both parties were on a high to start with. Plus as Lois had also mentioned that she was only here on a holiday, then it logically followed they were only having a fling, and the whole point of a fling was to have carefree fun in the first place. She'd had more than one in her life so knew their happiness was only in the moment. Which meant their affections wouldn't be deeply engaged, so their relationship while diverting and enjoyable, ultimately meant nothing.

oOo

At the opening bars of the next song Clark spun Lois out of his arms and back again then turned at the tap on his shoulder.

"May I cut in?"

"Where's your wife?"

"She's been whisked away by Alan, who lost Anne to Mark, who lost Tina to George." Tim replied patiently.

Continuing to sway softly to the music Clarks brows rose "If George is dancing with Tina, then who's dancing with Mavis?"

"Neil, he's the troublemaker who started it all." Tim grinned and taking Lois' hand from Clark's, swung her into his arms and tossed over his shoulder "Beat it pal, I'm dancing with your lady."

"Fine, I'm tired of her anyway." He tossed back and took Lois' laughing slap on his shoulder as his due.

Spotting Ginny standing on the sidelines, Clark made a beeline in that direction and swept her onto the floor "Where's your date?"

"Dancing with Irma." Looking over he spotted his friend shuffling around the floor with the old woman and frowned fiercely "Well that's just not right, Irma's mine."

Giggling at his nonsense, Ginny happily allowed him to swirl her around and over to the couple "Hey pal, are you trying to steal my lady?"

At the question Dean grinned fast and bright "You've got Lois so I get Irma."

"Boys I'm not picky, you can both have me." Irma tittered softly and fluffed her hair.

Smiling in agreement the men continued dancing with their partners and at the next song began to switch, when Michael and Carolyn Smith appeared at their side "Sorry guys, but son in law privilege means that I get the next dance with mom."

Giving in gracefully, Clark held out a hand to Carolyn, Dean smiled charmingly at Ginny and requested "Shall we?"

The women looked at each other, turned to smile at the men and cheerfully accepted.

oOo

Enjoying herself in the party atmosphere Lois danced from one song to the next, switching partners all the while, until her feet were begging for relief.

Retaking her seat, she blew the hair of her face, gulped down a glass of water and began to wave her hand in front of her face, only to have it captured by a much larger one.

Looking up she smiled at Clark "Hi."

"Hi." Using his free hand to sweep aside the hair clinging to her brow, he smiled softly in return "Feel like getting some air?"

"Yeah."

Making their way outside the two strolled around the grounds, pausing to exchange a few words with others who were likewise enjoying the fresh air and finally came to a stop in the semi-darkness under a large tree at the back end of the garden.

Tilting her head back Lois closed her eyes and smiled at the feeling of the light breeze blowing over her hot face "Mmmm."

Bending down slightly, Clark pressed his lips against hers gently, once, twice and a third time smiling when her lashes fluttered up.

"That was nice."

"I try."

"I meant the cool breeze on my face." She replied solemnly.

"Smart ass." He mock growled and leaning down pressed smiling lips to hers again.

Lips met and lingered, parted and came back in a series of soft moist kisses. Opening her mouth at his urging, Lois sighed lightly at the brush of his tongue over hers and felt a shiver of delight travel down her spine at both his taste and scent.

At the feeling of her softness lightly resting against him Clark locked an arm around her waist pressing her harder to his body, speared the fingers of his other hand into her hair and hummed deep in his throat when her arm stole around his back to allow fingertips to dance over the nape of his neck.

Mouths clung as tongues continued to joust gently; into her mouth, then his and back again, as lips parted only long enough to change angles before sealing together again.

When they were both fighting for breath lips parted reluctantly to gulp in some much needed air, eyes opened but neither smiled. Standing in the dimness of the night under the shadow of the tree, they continued to stare, lost in each other's eyes until finally the faint sound of music, laughter and gaiety coming from the open windows and doors of the hall penetrated.

Letting out a deep breath, Clark took her hand in his "Dance with me."

"Out here?"

Nodding, he began to move her gently to the music and breathing in the scent of her perfume closed his eyes at the sensation of their bodies swaying together.

"Clark."

"Shhh! No talking."

Giving in without protest, she looped her arms over his shoulders and nestled her head into the crook of his neck. Likewise closing her eyes she snuggled deeper into him when his arms encircled her waist pressing her body against his.

The danced quietly; undisturbed by the noise of the crowd, uncaring if anyone should see them, oblivious to everything but each other.

Resting his cheek against her hair, Clark indulged himself by smoothing his hands over her back, down to her waist and hips before locking his arms tighter around her slim waist.

At the feeling of his lips, soft as butterfly wings on her forehead, Lois burrowed in closer to him with a sigh, revelling in the feeling of being completely surrounded by him as they continued to sway softly together.

When they returned to the hall 20 minutes later, neither noticed the satisfied smiles, nods or eye gestures in their direction and remained unaware, that during their absence a number of people had approached Merv Chesney with money in hand, only to be turned away and told to come see him on the morrow.

oOo

_Two Hours later_

While Clark retrieved Attila from the barn Lois headed towards the house and had no sooner stepped inside the kitchen then her shawl and purse were tossed on the island, and the shoes kicked off. Groaning in relief she retreated to the lounge room and flopped down onto the couch.

Pushing open the back door Clark waved to the dog "Come on you little pest; get inside."

Dashing in with a yip, Attila ran to Lois and licked her toes, then dashed back to Clark and ran around his feet before scampering around the room and finally throwing himself down to roll over the carpet, while panting with joy that they were home.

Shaking his head at the mutt's antics and feeling he could safely walk without stepping on the overactive runt, Clark took a seat beside Lois and stretched lazily "He was asleep 5 minutes ago."

She smiled when the dog jumped up onto the couch then giggled when he walked from her lap to Clark's and back again before lying down, spread out half way across both their thighs.

Clark looked at the beast and shook his head "I was going to ask you to carry me up to bed, but now we're both trapped."

She began to giggle, quickly stifled the yawn that wanted to pop out and plonked her head on his shoulder "I wouldn't mind a snack."

"Neither would I, so go and get me one woman." He returned swiftly.

Giggling she tilted her head up and fluttered her lashes "Pwease."

His lips quirked at the tone but when he looked down the smile faded from his face. Brushing the hair from her cheek, he told her quietly "I don't want you to leave."

"What?"

"I don't want you to leave Lois."

She sat up and gave him tiny smile before clarifying "You mean tomorrow?"

_No; I mean that I intend to keep your sweet butt right here at my side until I understand just why you scare me shitless and why the thought of you not being with me, scares me even more. _ Wanting to smack himself in the forehead at how dim the woman was but figuring in this case it worked in his favour, Clark decided the best way to answer her question without getting himself in trouble was with silence, so simply nodded.

"Well I suppose another week here won't kill me; so ok." She grinned big and wide.

Sliding one hand to the back of her neck, he pulled her forward and captured her lips with his.

Her hand cupped his cheek, he moved closer, so did she but at the squeak from below, they broke apart and smiled shamefaced when Attila began to howl at them for almost crushing him.

oOo

**7****th**** August**

_Kent Farm - 11am_

Opening the front door at the knock, Clark's brows rose at finding Lana standing there in what he assumed was supposed to be a dress, but looked to have as much coverage as a band aid.

"Lana."

Seeing the surprise on his face at her presence she smiled, said "hello" then looked down at the woof from below "Will he bite if I give him a pat?"

"Only if you've got food in your hand." Clark replied dryly.

She grinned at that and felt completely charmed when Attila's eyes closed in delight at her stroking "He's adorable."

"He's a little shit." Clark countered swiftly.

She stroked him again then let out a small laugh, when after having enough attention the dog moved back and made itself comfortable sitting down on Clark's foot "How long have you had him?"

"He's not mine." Clark replied blandly and before she could make any more small talk, asked directly "Did you want something?"

"I wanted to apologise for biting your head of last night." She answered directly.

"You do?" He asked bewildered.

"Yes, I behaved childishly and I'm sorry."

"Well that's really nice of you; thanks." Having no doubt the woman was on the make, Clark wondered how he should react to this turn of events and decided to wait and see what she did first.

She nodded slightly, looked him up and down surreptitiously and waved a hand somewhat hesitantly "Um I don't know if Lois told you this but I'm thinking of moving back to Smallville."

"Yeah she did."

"What'd you think?"

"I think having another beautiful woman around town is never a bad thing." He replied with charming promptness.

Letting out a throaty laugh she tossed her hair slightly for effect "Thanks for the compliment."

"It's the truth."

Feeling her confidence she tilted her head inquisitively "I was also thinking about what you said last night..." At the curiosity on his face, she smiled and touched her tongue to her top lip "About how we haven't really talked in years. Anyway, I realised that you were right and I'd like us to get to know each other again and be friends; if you're open to that suggestion of course?"

_And by the way you're dressed and mentally undressing me, I have a pretty good idea just how friendly you want us to be_, Clark thought silently. Testing the waters to see how she'd react, he answered softly but with meaning "I'm always open to suggestion..." At her flirty titter he smiled slowly "...and a person can never have too many friends as far as I'm concerned."

"That's true..." She licked her lips and moving minutely closer, looked him directly in the eye "So friend, are you going to invite me in?"

At the blatant invitation in her voice, body language and eyes Clark felt his brows rise again. Admittedly he'd gotten used to Lana coming onto him in one way or another since they were kids, but she'd never been this direct; _**ever**_.

In the bad old days he got used to the way she played the coquette then slapped him down when he responded, so either this was a new ploy of hers or she was completely naive and genuinely had no idea what she was doing. That he didn't believe. Even as a kid Lana knew exactly what she was doing and had relied on his infatuation to get away with it without comment. In truth, he'd been so unschooled in the art of dalliance and flirtation that it took him a while to even catch onto her game, and afterwards he never said anything because he'd liked being the recipient of his dream girl's advances.

At his silence Lana wondered if she'd played it all wrong by being too straight forward and silently cursed. Allowing her lashes to sweep down she took a quick peek at him and sighed in relief. No, she wasn't wrong. By the look on Clark's face she'd just thrown him off balance and that was just fine. Men were supposed to be a little off balance that was the whole point. Taking a step closer she touched him lightly on the chest and murmured "Clark."

Hearing the huskiness in her voice and given her kittenish behaviour beforehand, Clark figured that all was fair and nudging the dog gently with his foot, swept the door open in welcome "Mi casa es su casa...friend."

Laughing lightly she brushed past him into the hall...

...10 minutes later Lana flew out of the house, panting heavily with spots of colour burning in her cheeks, and jumping into her car drove away.

Waving cheerfully Clark looked down at Attila and grinned "I somehow don't think she likes me anymore boy."

The dog woofed around the piece of rope in his mouth and batting Clark's ankle with his paw, hinted that he wanted to get back to play time.

Feeling in an extremely good mood, he grabbed onto the rope and made taunting noises when Attila began to growl and tug, digging his little feet into the floor to pull back with all his might.

oOo

_An hour later_

Ambling sedately along the side of the road beside Clark while chatting about nothing of importance, Lois kept one eye on Attila who was running ahead but pausing every now and again to sniff and inspect a flower, a leaf or any bit of rubbish that caught his eye before trotting away happily.

"You know I mentioned that Attila was getting hefty to Nathan a couple of days ago, but now I'm thinking he's hefty, because he's getting kind of tubby." She remarked thoughtfully.

"Not getting; is." Clark corrected amused "You should have named him tumbleweed."

"Why?"

"Well just look at him; between the rotund shape he's now sporting and the way his fur sticks up in all directions, he's really nothing but small brown fat hairy ball, with two big eyes and four short spindly little legs."

Lois tilted her head to examine her dog this way and that before slapping a hand over her mouth "Oh my gosh!"

"Hah, you see it." He pronounced smugly.

Elbowing him for putting that thought into her head, she giggled and bumped against him with her hip then frowned at seeing Lana packing up her car.

"Didn't she just get here the day before yesterday?"

"Yep."

"He…" Her voice trailed off when Lana looked up the street, saw them and all but ran back inside the house "Ok, I was going to call out hello and now I feel like a dick since she saw me and ran away." Waiting until they were past the woman's house, she looked over her shoulder before commenting low voiced "I wonder why she's leaving."

Clark shrugged but made no other response. However the far too innocent expression on his face caused her eyes to narrow in suspicion "What's going on?"

"How should I know?" He asked simply.

"You know." She poked him in the side then poked him again when he grinned cheekily but refused to talk "Tell me."

"Well if I had to take a guess…" He held up a finger and insisted "…and this is only a guess mind; but I'd say that she might have taken exception to something I said when she paid me a visit earlier."

Lois' brows flew up "She paid you a visit?"

"Uh huh?"

"Why?"

"Well now that all depends on who you ask." He drawled humorously "I'm sure if asked, Lana will swear black and blue that she just dropped round to be neighbourly."

"And what do you say?"

"That she was hungry and I was on the menu."

Lois frowned thoughtfully "But didn't you tell me once that she tries it on with you from a distance, but hasn't accosted you directly since you told her to belt off years ago?"

"Yep." He confirmed readily.

At the shark like grin on his face, she accused "You enjoyed it."

"Oh yeah, I haven't bothered saying anything before now because I figured that I'd already made myself clear years ago. So if Lana wanted to ignore that and make a fool of herself then who was I stop her?" Clark replied mildly "However this time she overreached herself and all but shoved it in my face. So I just decided to give her enough rope to hang herself with, before telling her what was what without mincing words."

"Gave her enough rope, or played her game so she thought you were receptive until you lowered the boom?" Lois asked dryly.

Appreciating that his girlfriend was no fool, Clark admitted simply "Both."

"And this happened while I was at my place?"

"Oh I'd say that was the whole point since Lana knows we're together but just happened turned up about 10 minutes after you left." He returned lazily.

Sighing hugely she tucked her arm into his and asked "What happened?"

Strolling along with her head resting on his shoulder, he gave her a full version of his encounter with Lana, and finished by pressing his lips against her forehead "The last thing she yelled before storming out of the house was that you were welcome to me."

Lois lifted her head and at the expectant expression on his face admitted grudgingly "You were right."

Disengaging his arm from hers, Clark flung it around her shoulders and cuddled her deeper into his side "As I mentioned once before; I frequently am."

Giggling at the self-satisfied tone in his voice, she pressed her lips to his cheek and at Attila's impatient woof, their stroll around was resumed.


	13. Chapter 13

Hi everyone

Firstly, I once again apologise for taking so long with this chapter but here it is at last. Secondly, thank you so much for the feedback it's always nice to know people enjoy my stories so it's much appreciated.

Thirdly: this chapter is extremely long (extremely) and it contains a lot of information. So you may want to use the facilities and/or get yourself a snack then get comfortable before you begin.

Fourthly: for those who are waiting on an update for WWB and curious how I'm going with Justice. Unfortunately, for the past year I tried multiple times to get back into them but P&P has been dominating my mind. However, I was on holidays recently and set myself one goal; finish P&P so I could put it behind me and move on and I did it; woo hoo (throws confetti). I actually finished 7pm on my last night of holidays, lol

I'm not going to post it all in one shot because it's very long but yes, it is done so the next update will be posted when my sister is on break from her course and can proof read it for me. So now I intend to get stuck back into Justice and WWB, both of which I started writing well over 18 months ago (hangs head in shame) but which came to a halt due to the above reasons.

Lastly, I hope after the long wait that you all enjoy the chapter.

Linda

oOo

**11**** August** - Approx 3pm

Lois scooped out a piece of ice from her drink and glided it over her face slowly, sighing in bliss at the coolness against her hot skin. When it melted she scooped out another piece to skate it down her throat then over the nape of her neck. Looking out the kitchen window she saw Attila lying in the kiddies pool and recalling the way the poor thing had crawled into it looking for relief from the oppressive heat, she wondered if it was worth the effort for her to likewise crawl outside and join him.

No, probably not. More than likely the dog wasn't feeling cooler; just wet. The shade of the tree would only give him shelter from the sun but it wouldn't give him any respite from the stifling heat or the oppressive humidity. Taking a look up at the darkening sky, she silently urged the rain to hurry up and arrive in the hope that afterwards a draft of fresh air would sweep in taking the thick heavy air and sultry weather with it.

Turning from the window she looked towards the lounge room and thought about flopping down on the couch but decided against it. The couch would be soft, but the kitchen floor tile would be cool and at the moment that was far more important to her than comfort.

Suiting action to thought she lay down on the floor then sighed in disappointment. It hadn't really helped, and now she didn't have the energy to get up again. What she should have done was crawled up the stairs and curled up in the shower. That would have been the smart thing to do. Well at least she had a good idea for where to sleep tonight and when Clark climbed in there to have a shower tomorrow morning, she'd just tell him to kick her into the corner because she wasn't getting out.

If she'd just stuck to the plan when deciding where to vacation months ago, right now she'd be at the sea side. She'd spent ages meticulously checking out all the vacation spots, investigating what each had to offer that was better than the other and although they were all pretty much the same, it had simply come down to what part of America she wanted to see. In the end she'd settled on spending the summer in a cottage at Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

She could have spent her days sitting on the porch of her cottage reading a book, going for a dip in the water or strolling through a nice air conditioned mall or two. If she'd wanted an escape from solitude after the sun went down, there was entertainment aplenty and when she went to bed the sea breeze skimming of the ocean would have made the nights pleasantly refreshing.

Closing her eyes she tried to imagine that she was lying on a banana lounge in the shade of a huge palm tree, looking completely stunning in her sexy new bikini and huffed in annoyance when a trickle of sweat ran down her temple to plop onto the floor bringing her back to reality.

Swiping the back of her hand over her forehead, she tried to remember why she'd changed her mind and decided to spend the summer in rural Kansas but couldn't figure out what had prompted her to do so. She'd been really excited at prospect of playing beach bunny for 3 months and had been ready to plunk her money down for a deposit on the cottage, only to throw her plans down the gurgler at the last minute when she instead decided to rent a house in a town she'd sworn never to set foot in again.

Yet if she hadn't come back to Smallville, she would have lost a whole lot more than she would have gained from spending her vacation at the beach.

God knows what would have happened to Attila. Someone kind and loving could have found him, or no one could have found him and he could have died horribly. So coming back just to find him was well worth it.

The friends she'd made here were also worth it. She could remember some of them from years long past but her recollections were hazy and mostly in conjunction with taking their orders when they came to the Talon in the time she worked there.

Then there was Clark; he was the big one.

The first day she'd seen him and had the flash of them together she'd felt annoyed. Later she'd felt pissed off and finally accepting but realising he'd grown to important had frightened her. She hadn't wanted that, hadn't wanted him to be essential to her.

Romance and a good time had always been easy but nothing about him was. If she'd had the faintest inkling that first afternoon when they rolled around in her backyard it was only the beginning of a relationship that would shake up her well ordered life, she would have run a mile in the opposite direction without looking back.

She'd thought that she was immune to feeling stirrings in the heart and impervious to tender gestures. She'd thought that she could just brush Clark aside and wave him away as inconsequential like she had so many in the past. She'd thought it was far too late for any man to get to her. Too late for her to feel any but the most shallow of emotions when it came to love, or to ache with wanting one man in particular but her feelings for him made a mockery of everything she thought that she knew about herself.

He was no prince charming and didn't pretend to be which was precisely what she liked about him the most. Smooth words, pretty speeches and plastic smiles just left her bored and indifferent. While Clark's bluntness and arrogance could be exasperating but it was honest and at times even diverting. His complete lack of inhibition was by turn's sexy, fun or hot depending on the mood and his high-handed bossiness well...she had to admit that mostly gave her a thrill of delight; mostly other times it tempted her to smack him one. Altogether he was one hell of a man; a man who lately had begun to give her butterflies. Not all the time, just sometimes which made it all the more exciting when he did.

She didn't know if what she felt for him was real and would last forever, or if it was only fleeting and fade as quickly as it began. She didn't want to give it a label, didn't want to examine all the why's and wherefore's, didn't want to borrow trouble and start thinking about what could or might happen in the future. She simply wanted to be with him and enjoy their time together. She'd worry about repercussions and paying whatever price the god's demanded for happiness at summers end.

Pressing the back of a hand to her mouth, Lois stretched and yawned and didn't feel herself sink into sleep.

At the feeling of a wet male body covering hers, she jumped and opened her eyes then felt her heart thump hard at the sharp desire on Clark's face. The room had grown darker, the rain beating down on the roof almost deafening. How on earth hadn't she heard it before? She must have drifted off, must have...her thoughts skittered to a halt and her stomach clenched at the fierce glitter in his eyes.

He was aroused, fully aroused. His body was tense, taut. His wet clothes quickly soaking through hers, causing the thin material of her top to rasp against her nipples, nipping them into sharp points and gluing her breasts to the solid wall of his chest, while the sodden material of his jeans grated uncomfortably harsh against her skin as he settled more heavily against her. She knew what he was doing. He was giving her time to refuse but deliberately crowding her, making her aware of him so that she wouldn't.

She felt smothered, overwhelmed by the heat and him. His face was an inch from hers but it was getting harder to see his features. The room had grown even dimmer but she could still see the fierceness in his eyes which caused the sweet throb of desire to pound in her veins. Her tongue snaked out to swipe over her lips and her lashes fluttered at the shudder that rippled through him. The rain was falling harder, pelting down on the roof in time with the hammering of her heart and then she could no longer think at all as Clark's mouth captured hers in a kiss so hot, deep and slow she quivered in reaction.

oOo

Clark swiped a hand over his brow and looked up at the darkening sky. He hoped the coming rain was a sign that cooler weather was on the way but didn't have high expectations of that happening.

The tight grip the heat had held them in over the past few days hadn't bothered him. He'd barely even noticed since his body's internal gauge adjusted itself accordingly. However, others weren't so fortunate. People all over the state were being adversely affected by it, Lois and Attila had taken to lying around the farm like a couple of limp noodles and tempers were getting short. Heat had a way of bringing out the mean in people.

At the first drop of rain he looked at his watch and seeing it was almost 3.30 figured it was time to call it a day. Since he didn't have a deadline to meet there was no point in working through pouring rain and by the look of the clouds that was exactly what they were in for. Quickly throwing his tools in the back of the truck he began the short drive from the back field to the farm but only made it half way when fat heavy plops of rain began to scatter the windshield. By the time he pulled up in front of the barn, it had become the expected downpour. Climbing out, Clark stood in the shelter of the building and pursed his lips in deliberation then took a quick step back when Attila came charging out of the barn to jump bravely into a puddle before dashing under shelter again and repeating the process over and over.

Grumbling silently he shook his head amused. He'd made the dog a playground in the barn so he'd have somewhere to play when it rained but just to be contrary Attila enjoyed playing in there when it was dry and being outside when it was raining. No doubt if this was a summer storm with the associated rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning, the animal would be cowering under one of the beds in the house as he'd done on a previous occasion but it seemed that a dark sky and a little water wasn't about to put the beast off from having fun. Since this was the first time in two days Attila was showing signs of life, then Clark was just happy he was happy. However, feeling a little taunting was in order, he waited until the dog next came scampering out of the barn and sing-songed loudly "She's going to scrub you clean and make you smell all girly later."

Attila skidded to a stop and growled before pouncing into a puddle.

Taking that to mean 'up yours', he nodded in satisfaction at the exchange then turned his attention towards his own dilemma.

He could of course zip to the house and at most have only a couple drops of water on him but given the heaviness of the rain he'd never be able to come up with a plausible reason for why he wasn't drenched that would satisfy Lois. Hell in her shoes he'd question it too. Well it looked like he'd have to jog to the house and get soaked in the process. He took a step forward then stopped and turned to look at Attila once more. He couldn't leave the dog out here; there was barely any breeze but the rain was coming down pretty heavily and the dog was no bigger than a minute. If the animal had been content to play in the barn he wouldn't worry but he wasn't comfortable trusting to good fortune that Attila wouldn't find trouble somehow.

The fact that Lois wasn't out here fussing over the little shit like a mother hen was surprising in itself and if the dog got hurt she'd jump on the guilt train in double quick time and he'd be hard pressed to forgive himself, knowing he could have prevented it in the first place.

Chewing his lip in deliberation Clark tried to figure out what to do with the beast. The house was going to be stuffy and he didn't want to drag Attila inside only to have the animal to whining to be let outside. With its wide doorway and high walls the barn got plenty of circulating air plus it had Attila's playground to keep him entertained, but it didn't have any puddles for him to play in. The front porch on the other hand was wide enough it would give the animal shelter from the rain, while allowing him to play tag with it safely and when he grew tired, he could simply curl up on patio furniture set against the wall and take a nap.

At the high pitched squeak, he looked down to see Attila splashing enthusiastically in a puddle close to the barn entrance and making up his mind, retrieved a piece of board from the barn, scooped up the dog and made a dash for the front veranda. Setting the animal down he placed the board across the entrance to the stairs and after ensuring it was secure, stood back pleased.

Attila yipped in disappointment but spotting a small lake of water to roll around in, he romped over and began to cheerfully do so.

"Don't say I never do anything for you." Clark called out loudly.

At the answering bark, which he could take as a 'thanks' but given Attila's personality possibly meant 'piss off and leave me alone', he pulled open the front door and walked inside the house, then came to a halt at finding Lois lying on the kitchen floor.

Later he'd realise that he didn't have time to worry because he was too busy getting a hard on. In the present it took him a beat to shake the fog of lust from his mind and think past the heat that shot straight to his loins causing an immediate tightening behind the zipper of his jeans to focus in and realise that she was either asleep or very relaxed.

He licked his lips as his eyes swept over her slowly taking in the thin tank top that stopped an inch above the waist and a pair of jean shorts that sat low on her hips. Her hair was mussed and messy, her lips glossy and slightly parted and her body was dewy with sweat.

She was a wet dream come to life.

She was like a gift from some magical genie who loved him. His jeans tightened another notch as his eyes roved over her again. The outflung arms, the incredibly long legs, the breasts full and round pushing against her top moving gently with every breath she took and all that soft skin on display caused his fingers to itch and beg to touch.

Less than a second later he was on her, pushing his knee between her legs to settle into the cradle of her thighs and felt the burn in his gut deepen when her lashes slowly lifted to reveal eyes filled with dreamy confusion, darken with awareness as her breasts swelled and the nipples firmed against his chest.

He tried to capture the expressions as they flittered across her face one after another but the rapidity of them made it difficult. The dimness of the room seemed to cocoon them in an atmosphere heavy with sensuality. Her face was in shadow but he could hear her breathing, could feel her breasts moving against his chest with every inhale and exhale. Could smell the light fragrance of her perfume mingled with the sweat of her body and the dampness of the rain clinging to him. He could hear the rain battering down on the roof in accord with the hammering of his pulse but the only thing he was aware of in the now was the need crawling under his skin to have her; to take her and bind her to him in the most elemental way.

His mouth sealed to hers and at her gasp his tongue slid inside, sweeping over and around, claiming and demanding at the same time.

Kneeling up swiftly he tried to pull both his shirt and undershirt of in one shot and grunted impatiently when the sodden material clung to his skin tenaciously. With a growl he ripped both open, then swiftly unzipped his jeans and pushed them down to his knees along with his underwear before turning his attention to her. Once enough clothes were out of the way he settled back on top and positioning himself at her opening began to push inside.

Lois arched in shock and pressed her face into his shoulder. Panting slightly as the pressure of penetration increased, her short nails dug into his back as the inner tissues of her sex quivered and stretched to accommodate his shaft as it relentlessly pushed forward until his penis was buried deep inside her channel.

Blowing out soft little breaths, she clung to him desperately while her body struggled to adjust to the force of his invasion and her mind absorbed the shock that he was already inside her. She was aroused but less than a minute ago she'd still been caught in a twilight world of dim lighting, glittering eyes and a slow drugging kiss that made her ache with wanting and...he was inside her already!

"Are you alright?"

At his rough whisper she bobbed her head slightly "Couldn't you have waited?"

No; Clark thought, he couldn't. He knew she hadn't been ready. Knew that she hadn't been with him all the way, knew that she'd barely been damp when he began to push into her but still the answer was no; he couldn't have waited.

He'd never ever taken a woman with no finesse, no build-up. Even when the sex had been casual raunchy fun with some woman he'd gotten it on with for just that purpose, he'd never just shoved into them with little to no fondling or caressing beforehand.

Lois was the only one who'd driven him to such extremes. He couldn't wait because to wait might give her time to think. To decide she didn't want this, want him and the thought of that was just as unbearable now, as it had been the first day he'd walked into her backyard and found her asleep in the hammock. He'd wanted her with then with the same ferocity that gripped him when he found lying on the floor. He had to have her, it was that simple. When the need overtook him, the second she said yes, whether it was in words or actions, he'd be inside her and waiting wasn't something he'd ever be willing to do, if it meant giving her a chance to change her mind from a yes to a no.

Reaching underneath, he gently stroked his fingers over her flesh where they were joined to coax the moisture forth, murmuring soothingly when she bucked against him before fastening his mouth around one breast then the other to suck hard on the nipples and tug lightly with his teeth.

Lois writhed beneath him as the tugging of his mouth shot little explosions from her breasts to her womb, while his fingers swirling over the flesh between her legs caused a sharp ache to grow and expand in her loins.

Her scent was driving him crazy, the taste of her skin ambrosial and her warm womanly body under his a temptation too much to resist. Unable to wait any longer he slid his hands to her bottom and withdrew almost completely before sliding slowly back inside the now moist depths of her sex.

Unsure if was trying drive her insane or trying to take it easy on her now after coming onto her like a bull in the first place, Lois held back the desire to scream. His movements were so slow she could feel every inch of him enter and withdraw which just about drove her out of her mind and made her want to pound on his back in frustration. She didn't want slow it was too late for that. She wanted...god she just wanted him! She wanted him and everything he had to give with no holding back.

Unable to stand it she raked her nails down his spine and bit at his chin hoping for something...anything and felt slightly gratified when his body shook in reaction but irked when his movements remained steady. Wanting to break his control, wanting him closer, wanting more; she wound her legs around his hips and cried out as the action tilted up her pelvis seating his penis more deeply inside her. At his snarl her eyes flew open to latch onto his and the breath backed up in her lungs. His face was sharp with purpose, his eyes fiercely intent.

Clark smiled grimly. He'd tried; he'd honestly tried to show her some consideration and had managed to hold onto his sanity while doing it. He'd fought against his body's instinctive desire to pound into her and take what he wanted but the leash he'd been holding himself back with snapped and broke free at her movements. Sliding his hands to her thighs he pulled her legs high around his waist and ignoring her gasp kept her hips tipped up for maximum penetration as he began to drive and plunge his penis deep inside her channel barely withdrawing before pushing inside her again.

Sharp need twisted inside her as her hands latched onto his shoulders for support. She'd provoked him to lose control, to give her what she wanted and his response was lovemaking in its most carnal form.

The heat of the day, the heat of him; on her, over her, moving inside her made her feel thrillingly alive. The luscious stark intimacy of the act and his want of her made her feel infinitely sensual, but knowing her body was giving him what he needed, while demanding that she take from him in return, made her feel richly female and all his.

Pulling her more firmly beneath him he clamped their mouths together and slid his tongue inside to mate with hers as his thrusts became firmer, stronger; his strokes more powerful and deliberate. Feeling the betraying shudder of her breath against his lips and the tiny ripples running through her body, he freed her mouth to run his lips down the column of her throat and just as his penis pushed up hard into her, he bit down.

The combination of pleasure and pain was so intense it tipped her over the edge into a free falling climax. Her muscles spasmed and contracted, clamping hard around his penis as her body shook and trembled in reaction. She dimly heard him curse, felt him withdraw and shove back inside so impossibly deep that lights danced behind her closed lids.

Arms clung, hands clutched and faces stayed pressed into each other's necks. Their bodies were slick with sweat, plastered together from both the rain dampened heat and sex. His breath stirred the tendrils of hair at the side of her neck, her breath short little pants that puffed against his ear.

Feeling almost suffocated by the weight of him lying heavily on her, the hard floor underneath and the stifling warmth of the air she stirred slightly then gasped when she felt him swell inside her again.

Lifting his head Clark laughed quietly in rueful apology, and stroking the damp hair back from her brow, slanted his mouth over hers.

His palm stroking the side of her face, his tongue in her mouth, the taste of him was so sublimely pleasurable she felt deliciously wanton as the warm ache of desire began to unfurl within her again.

His lips lifted then swooped forward to capture her mouth once more in a heated passionate kiss before lifting clear. Pushing up with his arms, he turned to sit beside her and after tugging off his boots and socks, he dispensed with the rest of his clothes then hers before getting to his feet.

Scooping her into his arms, he made directly for the stairs and reaching his room, lay her down on the bed, slid on top and slid back inside.

"Whatever happened to foreplay?" She grumbled crossly.

"It's an over-rated myth." He muttered and moulded his mouth to hers.

Lips firmed, hardened as tongues meshed and danced into his mouth then hers and back again. Soft feminine limbs interlaced and rubbed against strong masculine ones as they rolled over the bed creating a friction that both found agonizingly seductive.

Shifting onto his back, he eased her up to rest against his raised knees and cupping her breasts in his palms, weighed them gently while rolling his thumbs over and around the stiffened tips as his eyes lifted to her face. She was magnificent; her hair was mussed and dishevelled, her lips swollen from his kisses, her skin faintly sheened with the flush of passion and her eyes looking down at him through a thick veil of lashes, gleamed.

Debating whether now was the time to get her agreement to stay in Smallville while her resistance was weak, he shunted the idea aside, not forgotten but held in reserve should it be necessary and smoothed his hands around to her back.

Lois arched in pleasure and shivered slightly at the gentle rasp of his thumb down the ridge of her spine, then shrieked when he swung her around and under him before sitting up on his haunches, and tugging her up to straddle his thighs. Squirming in delicious lassitude at the feeling of his chest rubbing against her breasts, she sighed then moaned softly when he began a leisurely rocking motion that gently rubbed his pubic bone against hers with every stroke of his penis in and out of her channel.

This time the loving was slow and prolonged, tantalizing yet sweet. With the edge taken off the rush towards completion was no longer there, but the intensity of pleasure was just as strong. Hands caressed, cheeks rubbed and lips pressed fleetingly on jaws, necks and shoulders.

Nudging her chin gently to the side with his head, Clark brushed his lips down the line of her throat in a series of soft butterfly kisses until reaching the spot he'd been aiming for and once there, his mouth clamped on to suck and tongue at the flesh with purpose.

Purring softly at the exquisite feeling of Clark's mouth on her neck, his arms holding her close while he continued to move in and out of her in a leisurely sensual pattern, Lois ran her hands over his back, up and over his shoulder blades, fingertips digging in before smoothing out to follow the line of his arms and up again to circle over his back. He was a big man, so big that she felt almost dainty in comparison to the sheer size of him. She could feel the strength in his arms, his broad shoulders, the muscles rippling under his skin and revelled in it. His hands when he smoothed the hair away from her face, when her rubbed them over her, when he held her carefully or firmly while they made love was so ambrosial, so evocatively sensual it made her feel like sinking against him boneless. Pressing her nose against his shoulder she breathed in deeply and felt saturated by his scent. The one that was so uniquely his mingling with the fragrance of the soap he used. Resting her cheek on his shoulder she closed her eyes and wondered if anything could be more perfect than feeling positively cocooned by Clark while making love with him on hot rainy afternoon.

Washing his tongue over the area of her neck his mouth had marked, Clark pressed her closer against him and swept his hands over her back to her bottom. Her skin was so soft, smooth; silky. She felt so good in his arms; so damn good.

He wanted her. More than he knew was good for him, more than he knew it was possible to want; but he could live with it if he had to. It was his growing _**need**_ for her alarmed him. He didn't want to place any part of his happiness in another's hands, yet would fight to the bitter end if she ever tried to leave or shake him off. He didn't know if what he felt for her had a name and ruthlessly shutting out the voice that called him a liar, slid his lips from her neck to her ear and blew softly smiling in satisfaction when her breasts swelled and the nipples tightened even further against his chest.

"That's not fair."

Ignoring the gentle rebuke, he slid one hand into her hair and arching her head to the side, held it immobile at just the right angle to give him unobstructed access to the shell of her ear.

Lois felt her tummy quiver, felt the giggle of nervous anticipation rise up and bubble out "foul, foul, foul..."

Letting out a low husky laugh he brushed the hair away from her ear in a slow deliberate movement that scraped the tip of his nail over the lobe and smiled at the small tremble that shook her body.

She squealed and hunched one shoulder in protection, his head dipped to trail his tongue gently along her jaw-line and at the slight relaxation of her shoulder, his mouth zeroed in and attacked her ear with lips, tongue and teeth.

Lois bucked, felt the flash of heat burn along every nerve ending in her body and went off like a rocket. Crying out, shuddering, her nails dug into his shoulders as her body heaved and twisted while the spasms crashed over and through her in waves.

Holding her securely he continued thrusting in and out, giving her more, pushing her higher but when the inner muscles of her sex pulled him in deeper and clamped around his penis in a grip so tight he vibrated with the force of it, he spun her under him and shattered too.

Once hearts calmed and breathing returned to normal Clark yawned with satisfied languor and keeping her locked in his arms, he stood up only long enough to sweep the crumbled covers to the foot of the bed with one hand, before lying her back down and making himself comfortable beside her.

"That was cheating."

At her gripe, he grinned proudly and mentally patted himself on the back. He knew all of Lois' hot spots now, and felt even more pleased with the fact that she now knew, he knew. She'd tried to hide that her ears were the big one, had tried to distract him with others but he'd taken note and now that he'd confirmed it, he relished the thought of using it to his advantage in future.

Patting her leg in comfort he commented sadly "You're just a sore loser."

"I am not." She lied swiftly then added with a sneer "Besides I was faking!"

"You..." He tried to speak but giving up the effort as useless, began to hoot and rock with laughter.

"Shut up; I was!" She bellowed insulted.

Laughing harder, he wrapped his arms around his waist and howled as tears streamed down his cheeks.

Lois harrumphed silently and kicked him in the shin with her bare foot.

When he managed to calm down he wiped his eyes and wiggled his fingers "Wanna test it."

"No, you leave my ears alone." She squealed and grabbed his hand.

He grinned and linked their fingers together.

"I'm going to getting even, just see if I don't." She threatened sweetly.

"You'll have to find my biggest hot spot first." He retorted smugly.

She let out a short bark of laughter "Oh please! You've only got one hot spot and it's your dick."

"I'm a very simple man." He replied unembarrassed, but when she started to shift, he quickly let go of her hand to grasp onto her thigh "Stay, please."

She didn't want to get up, didn't want to move. She wanted to stay with him but the combination of heat and sex had made her sleepy and she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Yawning hugely, she turned her head to look out the window and noted the sky was an inky grey, the light dim but struggling to come in the room and Clark was looking at her with drowsy but piercing intent.

The rain hadn't cooled things down; it had just made the air muggy, saturated with moisture and sapped her strength. Her limbs felt weighted, heavy; her eyelids laden down by the weight of the lashes. She wanted to curl up in him and rest. She wanted to stay here with him and fall asleep with the beat of his heart as a lullaby.

Seeing both the wanting and the indecision on her face, he reached over to smooth the hair away from her brow and played gently with the tousled strands "Stay."

She couldn't afford to stay. If she did he'd expect her to sleep with him from now on and she wasn't going to do that. She'd rather be honest and tell him no now when he already knew her feelings on the subject, then to make up excuses or lies every night for the rest of her vacation.

Wondering what she was thinking, he softly nudged "Babe."

"I'm sorry Clark I can't."

He was unsurprised but still had to take a moment to tuck away the annoyance that flared at her response "Then at least stay until I fall asleep."

"Why?"

"Because I'm hoping to nail you again before that happens." He remarked sombrely.

She giggled and slapped his arm then shot up with a jump "Attila!"

"He's fine." He pulled her back down and curled around her "I put him on the front porch where he was happily rolling around in the puddles forming there. So either he's worn himself out and is resting or he's still having a ball."

She smiled pleased "I'm glad he enjoyed it; the poor thing looked like a wilted lettuce leaf earlier."

"I know but I think the reason he enjoyed it was because there was a light breeze when it was bucketing down and it was enough to revive him a little."

"Good."

He frowned in query "By the way, what were you doing lying on the kitchen floor?"

"Looking for somewhere cool to rest." She confessed with a lopsided smile.

"Did it work?"

"Nope and now we have another problem." At his raised brows, she wrinkled her nose "We're stuck together."

"Yeah." He agreed in satisfaction.

"I mean that literally. It feels like we're pasted together with glue; it's really yucky and gross." She finished by making a face.

"You didn't think it was gross before."

"My brain cells weren't working before."

"We'll have a shower later." Clark replied unconcerned and pressing his face into her neck yawned once again.

"But..."

"Quiet down."

She laughed softly but at the prodding at her hip, shook her head in disbelief "Again?"

He opened one eye "Don't blame me. It has a mind of its own and something about finding you all warm and soft in my bed get's it excited." He patted her bottom in comfort and closed his eye again "Besides, I told you what I was hoping."

"Can it wait for a bit?"

"Mmm; now shush."

Grinning she pressed her lips to his cheek, chuckled softly when his mouth puckered up in expectation and after obediently smacking their lips together gently, silently laughed when he dropped off to sleep with the murmured promise "I'll do you again in a little bit."

oOo

_Approx 4.45pm_

Clark's mouth tilted and his arm reached out to sweep Lois into the curve of his body but finding nothing there, the smile fell off his face. One eye flicked open then the other before the air was turned blue with a string of muttered curses.

Feeling like a fool he scrubbed his hands over his face, grabbed the pillow and after shoving it against the headboard sat up and glared at the empty space beside him.

She should be there. Right there beside him. He shouldn't have to wake up alone and he was getting really, really, really tired of it. No he wasn't getting tired of it, he was FED UP!

At the sound of her laughter followed by the bark out the window, he turned and glared in that direction.

He'd thought by asking her to stay and making it sound like a request that she'd say yes. When she said no, he'd hoped that by pretending to show her how understanding he could be about being refused AGAIN, that she'd change her mind.

What really got his goat was that Lois had obviously slept with other men, which is how she knew that she preferred sleeping alone but refused to do so with him. And what really stuck in his craw was that all of his ex-lovers had wanted him to stay afterwards, yet his current one didn't. Hells bells, other than Lana his exes weren't even exes, they were just women that he'd fucked when he got the urge. He could pretty it up and say they were short lived relationships that lasted for a few hours but the fact was, the only thing they'd really shared was a desire to touch and be touched; to not feel alone for a night or weekend, end of story. However that didn't change the fact that when they'd asked him to stay, he'd done so. Some had wanted to chat and he'd suffered through that for several minutes before pretending to fall asleep. Others had wanted to cuddle which he'd suffered through until they did, but the bottom line was that he'd stayed. Ok, so he wasn't a saint. He'd stayed in the hope of getting sex again before going on his merry way but it had still been a mutual give and take which the ladies seemed to understand. Yet the one woman he wanted to sleep with for no other reason than he wanted to be with her; was the one who flatly refused to consider it.

He was tired of pretending that sex and companionship was enough; it wasn't. She'd already given him those along with friendship and caring but it still wasn't enough. He wanted more. It was what she wouldn't give that was fast becoming of major importance to him. Hell she could tell him her deepest darkest secrets but it still wouldn't be enough. The issue of them sleeping together was almost like wall between them. He knew that as long as it stood there was a part of herself she was keeping from him and he was finding it harder to deal with that every day. He wanted it gone. He didn't want anything between them and figured it was time to tear it down.

The fact that it was up to him to do it didn't come as any great surprise. It had been his idea for them to initially see each other twice daily and when Lois said no, he'd kissed her into submission thus making his point until she agreed. It had been his idea for them to be more than fuck buddies and when she said no, he'd deliberately spoilt her date and promised to keep doing so until she gave in. It had been his idea for her to visit for the weekend and when she said yes, he'd afterwards refused to let her back out and it had been his idea for her to stay on at the farm the past couple of weeks and she'd simply agreed.

So basically he'd had to push her or play hard ball on every occasion to advance their relationship and he'd have to do it again.

Ok, so he'd play hard ball that was no problem. But since this was the only issue Lois was adamant about and hadn't given any ground on, then this time he couldn't just bulldoze through her objections; he'd have to be sneaky.

Well, that was fine with him.

Admittedly he much preferred the direct approach but since he'd already tried that and failed on numerous occasions, then it was time for deception...and that was something he was a master at.

Being crafty and underhanded when necessary was a talent that he'd perfected from the time he knew that he was different to others. Once upon a time his conscience would have bothered him about being deceptive but that time had long since past. He was no longer hampered by delicate principles nor interested in suffering like a martyr. Nowadays his philosophy was that if you wanted something badly enough, then you fight for it and take every opportunity to stack the deck in your favour to win. If you're not willing to do that then suck it up and shut up, because no one's interested in listening to hard luck stories from a whinger who didn't care enough in the first place.

Well this was an issue he cared about, so it was time for him to fight but he'd do it by playing dirty.

Feeling more than satisfied that he'd at last resolved it was time for the niceties to end and the rules to be thrown out the window, Clark stretched hugely before climbing out of bed and heading to the shower.

Back in his room 10 minutes later, he hummed under his breath and while getting dressed mentally tossed around ideas for the best way to accomplish his goal with the least amount of fuss on his part and resistance on hers. Discarding one idea after another he decided to wing it figuring something would come to him in time, when his eye alighted on an object that would certainly give him an edge sitting right there his dresser. Stepping over he picked up the bottle and smiled in satisfaction. Lois had all but eaten him with a spoon on the night of the dance and later blamed it on his new aftershave. He didn't altogether believe her since he liked to think it was him that drove her mad with desire but since he was a firm believer in grabbing any opportunity that presented itself, he patted some on then took a sniff and shrugged. It was nice. He couldn't see what she got all worked up about but if it did the trick then he wasn't going to argue.

Cocking an ear to detect whether Lois was still outside he nodded satisfied at hearing her talking to the dog in the kitchen and deciding that was good enough, he swiftly changed the sheets and after smoothing the comforter in place gave it a benevolent pat of reassurance. Tonight Lois was going to sleep right here and in the morning she was going to wake up right on top of him; oh yeah, mmm hmm. This was the last time he was going to wake up alone.

Heading out of his room he made his way downstairs and found her standing at the island busily chopping up fruit while chatting to Attila, who was keeping her company and giving the occasional woof in reply.

Stepping up behind he slipped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to the top of her head "Hey."

"Hi..." She paused to sniff then turned and eyeballed him "You're wearing _**the**_ aftershave."

"Whatever do you mean?" Clark asked innocently.

Her eyes narrowed "You know exactly what I mean."

"Don't have a clue."

"Liar!"

He smiled blandly "So I'm wearing aftershave, big deal. You're wearing perfume."

"I always wear perfume."

"I always wear aftershave."

"You normally wear the other one; the cheap shit." She growled snippily.

"I don't do cheap; thank you."

"You're cheap all over mister and I know you're up to no good." She muttered under her breath.

He smirked but replied caringly "I think you're just feeling a little crotchety; maybe it's the heat."

"Maybe it's your smarm." She retorted sweetly.

Sniggering silently he released her and stepped to the side so they were hip to hip then deliberately leant forward hoping the scent of his aftershave wafted up her nostrils "So what have you been doing while I was asleep?"

"Well first I gave Attila a bath because he really needed one, then I had a shower because I really needed one. After that I spent a little time mooching around and now I'm making desert." She replied and sweeping the mango pieces into the bowl at the side, reached for the punnet of strawberries.

"So you didn't manage to catch a nap then?"

"No."

Nodding slowly while internally thinking 'ah hah', Clark asked chattily "So we're having fruit salad again huh?"

"Yeah, I love it." She smiled and scooped out a piece of mango from the bowl for him to taste, then shook her head when he retrieved a piece and tossed it to Attila at the dog's pitiful whine "Sucker!"

"What...why?"

"He's been taste testing for the last 15 minutes."

"You made me feel sorry for you, you little runt." Clark growled at the animal.

The dog woofed and wagged his tail in reply.

"So what's for dinner?"

"That's your department tonight." She reminded him without pause.

Screwing his nose up at the thought of cooking, he trod to the fridge and after giving the contents a quick once over, closed the door and turned back "How do you feel about pizza?"

"Fine."

Seeing the love-bite on her neck he stepped back over and gently rubbed his thumb over the mark "You've got a hickey."

"I know; thanks."

He nodded, grabbed a strawberry and bit down "It wasn't an accident."

Her head swung up and her eyes nailed him to the spot "What?"

"I did it on purpose."

"On purpose?" She repeated calmly.

"Mmm."

She tapped the knife on the island "You gave me a hickey on purpose; like an animal pissing on its mate."

"Yep!"

"You pissed on me!" She gritted out between clenched teeth.

"Only metaphorically." Seeing the dangerous lights in her eyes he held up a hand in peace "Baby it was an, 'in the moment' kind of thing."

"So you're sorry."

"No." Her hand gripped the handle tighter as the tapping of the knife got harder. He tried to disarm her with charming smile but when her eyes narrowed, he threw up his hands "Lo, do you want me to lie just to make you feel better?"

"Yes!"

"Then ok I'm sorry."

"You're lying."

"Yeah I am."

His honest frankness took the wind out of her sails and caused her lips to twitch. When he smiled back hugely, her brows snapped together "I really, really hate you."

"Why?"

"Because you won't even lie just to make me feel better."

"I did lie and you called me a liar so I told you the truth and now you don't like that either." He grumbled and shook his head "I really, really wish that you'd make up your mind."

She laughed then smacked his hand when he reached over to swipe another strawberry, satisfied at his responding yelp.

Figuring he'd gotten off easy Clark grabbed the keys to his truck and whistled to the dog "Come on boy, we'll go and get dinner."

"No anchovies."

"Lo when do I ever get anchovies?" He asked patiently.

She made a face but conceded "Never."

"So why do you always remind me?"

"It just seems like the thing to do."

Rolling his eyes he left without further comment.

oOo

_Approx 8.45pm_

Clark looked down at the sleeping woman tucked into his side and his lips curved at the soft faint snore that issued from her. Blowing lightly at the strands of hair tickling his chin, he pressed his lips to the top of her head and tried to concentrate on the documentary that had held his attention a bare 15 minutes before Lois had dropped off but found it hard to do so.

At her low murmur and slight shift he crooned softly in her ear and quickly slipped his hand under her top to lazily smooth his palm up and down her spine in a gentle rhythm in the hopes of keeping her peacefully under.

She'd fallen asleep of her own accord and yeah ok, so he'd seen that she was still tired from the heat and had helped her to go under by turning off all the lights after dinner and not nudging her awake when she began to conk out but at most he could only be accused of capitalising on her fatigue not causing it. In which case the last thing he needed was for to wake up now and retreat upstairs where he wasn't welcome. After thinking of all the various ways to approach the situation he'd decided that the only way to resolve it was with action.

He hated the necessity of using subterfuge but had ultimately reasoned that if Lois was only going to realise the world wasn't going to fall apart if she slept in his arms was by waking up in them, then that's what was going to happen. He knew that he was taking a big risk, but felt that it was worth it.

Best case scenario; she'll smile and thank him for laying her ghosts to rest on the morrow.

Worst case scenario; she'll try to cut off her favourite part of his anatomy in revenge.

Realistic scenario; she'll be pissed to high heaven and make sure he knew it.

Since realistic was the winner, he was under no illusions that when she woke up in his bed tomorrow morning that she wasn't going to yell blue murder but she'd be entitled so that was fine. She could be angry, she could follow him around the farm yelling from sunup to sundown and he wouldn't say one word in his defence but when it came time for bed tomorrow night, he'd once again pick her up and place her in his whether she liked it or not. After that he'd hold on tight until she finished cursing or exhausted herself with struggling but he'd win in the end because he had no intention of losing.

Smoothing a lock of hair from her cheek, his eyes softened at the angelic look on her face. Scoffing lightly at that Clark shook his head in amusement; Lois, an angel hah! The woman was a shrew and the red hot body didn't make her any less so.

"Not a shrew." She grumbled softly.

At her words his head jerked back in surprise and his brow wrinkled "Baby, are you awake?" Clark asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

In response she huddled deeper in to his side and delicately snored.

Smiling at the soft noise, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and traced her brow with one forefinger.

She wasn't his type, not at all. Or more precisely, she wasn't the type of women he'd thought he was attracted to. At 34 years of age he thought that he knew himself well enough to have a good grasp on all his likes and dislikes. Yet here he was, all stewed up over a woman who threw everything he thought he knew about himself in the crapper.

In looks he'd always preferred the classical beauty or the delicate featured not the hell on wheels hot. He'd appreciated them as any man would but in hindsight he realised that he'd fallen into the stereotypical thinking that a beautiful woman was both visually and mentally pleasing, whereas a hot one was lust worthy but not relationship material. Well Lois had given him a kick up the bum with that one. She had the face. She had the body and she had the attitude all of which made her smoking but she was worth more than just being drooled over.

In personality his taste had veered to the softly spoken, the agreeable and the undemanding. Lois didn't fit the bill there either. She wasn't a peaceful woman. She wasn't a docile companion and she wasn't sweetly spoken.

Lois would never be the calm before the storm. She WAS the storm. She was the tempest and it was that very thing plus all her funny little ways tangled up together, that drew him in and made him want her all the more.

"Hmm, storms are nice." She whispered and snuggled in.

Clark stiffened and felt his heart thump hard. Ok the last time he'd been willing to shrug it off because...hell he didn't know why but he'd let it go figuring it wasn't a big deal that needed examination. However, twice in the space of a few minutes was pushing the bounds of selective ignorance.

Turning slightly, he looked at her sleeping face and asked silently _"__Why__do__you__like__storms__Lo?__"_

At the non response he tried shouting _"__LOIS,__WHY__DO__YOU__LIKE__STORMS?__"_

Nothing!

Feeling like an idiot he shifted uneasily causing Lois to be jiggled in the process and silently wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment when there were no witnesses around.

"No."

"_No what?" _

"A person can't literally die from embarrassment." She muttered low voiced.

His head swivelled to find her eyes were still closed and her face relaxed in sleep _"__What__'__s__your__middle__name__Lois?__"_

"Wanna sleep."

"_Your__middle__name.__" _He pressed harder.

"Joanne." She growled irritated.

Frantically searching his mind for any useless trivia he burst out _"__Who__shot__Abraham__Lincoln?__"_

"John Wilkes Booth."

"_Who was the first president of the United States?"_

"George Washington."

"_Who invented the word assassination?"_

"Shakespeare."

"_Name the lovers in Romeo and Juliet?"_

At her sleepy laugh, he smacked his cheek with the palm of his hand and quickly began to ask _"__Who...__"_

"Shut up!"

"_FUCK!"_

"Language!" She admonished primly.

Rolling his eyes to the ceiling Clark determinedly kept his mind blank and decided it was way past time that he woke her up. Keeping his face devoid of the roiling emotions in his gut, he shook her lightly and when her lashes fluttered open, crooked his lips up in a small smile "You're going to hurt your neck if you fall asleep here Lo."

She nodded slowly, looked around the room helplessly until she felt in control and hoping her eyes weren't showing any anxiety asked "How long was I out for?"

Seeing the apprehension in her eyes and hearing the fluttering of her pulse, he swiftly lied "Only a minute or two."

"Did I say anything?"

"Baby you were asleep." He reminded her softly. Noting her shoulders relax he tilted his head and frowned "You did mumble something about wanting to give me strip tease though." At her giggle, he leant over and kissed her cheek "You snore."

"I do not."

"You do so." He grinned in return and at her loud snort, nodded seriously "That's exactly how you sounded."

"Liar!" She retorted and getting to her feet stretched hugely.

Wondering if her ability was something that only worked while she was asleep or if it was something she could do at will, he decided the only way to know for sure was by tossing out an insult that no woman would appreciate, much less take with good grace.

Sucking in a deep breath, he silently yelled _"__HEY__LOIS,__YOU__'__RE__GETTING__FAT!__"_

Waiting in fear for her to either run away crying, blast him to kingdom come or hit him with something heavy, he watched her carefully and hoped no dread was showing on his face when she turned around to face him.

"I'm off to bed so I'll see you in the morning ok?"

He nodded silently.

"Are you going to stay up a bit longer?"

He nodded once again and when she turned to look at the dog curled up on the ottoman, the breath he'd been holding escaped in a silent whoosh.

She pressed a hand to her mouth to suppress a yawn, tilted her head to study the mutt then turned back to Clark decisively "Attila's fast asleep and since he's used to staying at the farm now, just leave him be if he doesn't wake up when you go to bed ok?"

He nodded a third time and getting to his feet pulled her into a tight hug before leaning back and cupping her face in his hands. Seeing the startled look on her face, he smiled reassuringly while his eyes continued to search hers "Goodnight babe."

"Goodnight."

He watched quietly as she made her way up the stairs, turned away when she stepped into the bathroom, took a quick peek a few minutes later to find her asleep in bed and then collapsed back onto the couch.

**FUCK!**

Scrubbing his hands hard over his face, Clark shook his head back and forth while castigating himself for not leaving well enough alone.

He'd honestly had no idea that Lois had been opposed to them sleeping together because she had something to hide. How could he have? She'd never had any abilities years ago and he'd swear to that, so he'd just taken it for granted nothing had changed. He'd actually thought the reason for her hardnosed stance on the subject was because some insensitive prick had griped about her awful sleeping habits in the past, subsequently making her feel self conscious about it, which over time became a defence she used to avoid intimacy.

He'd wanted to pull down that barrier down and now he didn't know if he'd put an even bigger obstacle in their path, or if Lois would feel relieved that he knew.

Shit!

The way he saw it he had two options. He could bite the bullet and confess all to Lois, taking any anger she felt about it on the chin, or he could somehow get her to come out with the truth of her own volition, which would save him from being the bad guy in her eyes. He'd lie in a heartbeat if it was about something trivial but wasn't entirely comfortable doing it given the circumstances.

Rubbing shaking his fingers over his brow, Clark exhaled heavily.

He'd gotten into the habit of thinking he and his friends in the JLA were the only people in the world who had big secrets and had assumed that even if others had their own, they could never rival the scope of theirs but that was arrogant of him. A person's secrets were important to them no matter how trivial others might view them and he should have learnt that long before now.

He'd come to accept and even appreciate being different years ago but he could vividly recall how out of step with the world he'd felt as a teenager. How uncomfortable it was when people asked questions. How scared when they got too close to the truth and how exposed he'd felt when they discovered it. Sometimes he'd felt relief and other times fear, depending on who they were and how they reacted upon learning about him. But he'd always, always felt betrayed when they dug into his life searching for answers that were none of their concern.

He hadn't done that to Lois but he had taken advantage of a situation to suit his own ends and he'd never liked it when anyone did that to him either. The only person he'd let off the hook for tricking him into exposing himself had been Lana but considering he'd let her get away with far worse, it would have been surprising if he'd actually had the balls to say anything to her. Well that was in the past and there was no point in thinking about it now. Besides, he'd given it to her but good years ago and had enjoyed ramming the truth home once again when she tried her shit a few days ago so in all he'd more than made up for his gutless behaviour back in the day and trying to distract himself with thoughts of that, weren't going to solve this mess.

Did he tell Lois? Did he pretend ignorance? Did he wait for her to tell him?

Taking a quick look at his watch, he saw it was just on 10pm and deciding it couldn't hurt to get a little advice from some friends, he zipped out of the house and made directly for the watchtower.

oOo

Walking into the main room minutes later he felt his shoulder relax at seeing the guys were there and without beating around the bush, announced loudly "I need some advice."

Oliver and Bruce swivelled around from the schematics they were studying on the screen, Victor looked up with his fingers paused over the keyboard, Bart shovelled in the donut he was eating and reached for another, while AC and J'onn smiled pleasantly in greeting.

"I can see you're all busy but do you have some time?" He asked directly.

"We're not busy, just keeping ourselves occupied; what's up?" Oliver replied on behalf of all.

Now that he was there and had an audience Clark didn't know where to begin. Feeling the need to move, he paced around the room, fiddling with one thing or another absently before moving on.

Watching his actions the men shared eye contact, knew a woman had to be the cause, in this case Lois and sat forward intrigued.

Having been filled in on Clark's love-life when he queried why his friend had seemed eager to get home after helping the JLA on a previous occasion, rather than staying to have a drink as was his usual practice, J'onn cocked his head and supplied helpfully "He appears to be perturbed."

The men nodded and as one leant forward even more; their boring night of housekeeping had just gotten a lot more interesting.

"It's Lois."

Each man thought a variation of 'oh, this will be good', and nodded at him encouragingly, but when no further words were forthcoming, Victor burst out impetuously "Has she kicked you out?"

"She hasn't kicked me out." He growled irritated "She can't kick me out because she's staying at my place. So if there's any kicking's to be done, I'll be the one doing it."

"So you want our advice on how to kick her out?" Bart queried next.

"There's going to be no damn kicking; not by me and not by her!" Clark stopped pacing and fisted his hands on his hips "If she even tries to kick me to the curb, there'll be hell to pay I can promise you that."

The men nodded obediently and bit the inside of their cheeks praying for composure.

Bruce cleared his throat and quizzed "Ok, so I'm assuming that any branch of the kicking and dumping family tree isn't the problem, so what is?"

He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck "I was hoping to get her to sleep with me tonight..."

"Hang on! You've been seeing her for over two months now." Bruce jumped in to ask sceptically "Are you saying the two of you haven't?"

"Of course we have." He snapped impatiently "Now as I was saying, she won't sleep with me..."

"Um…sorry Clark but I'm already lost." Bart frowned confused "You just said that you are sleeping together and now you're saying that you're not; which is it?"

He growled under his breath and thumped heavily down onto the couch "We have sex but she won't sleep with me. As in actually go to sleep; do you get it?"

Nodding slowly, the men made their way over to the seating area to join him, looked at each other baffled then shook their heads "No sorry."

"I mean..."

"No we understand what you mean, but why?" Victor enquired curiously.

"That's what's caused the problem!" Clark snarled aggravated "Lois just said that she wasn't comfortable with it so I said fine, thinking things would change in time but they didn't and the longer it went on, the more I hated the situation because it felt like she was using it as a way to hold me off. She's been at the farm for just on two weeks now and still sleeps in my mom's room." He saw the surprise in their eyes and rubbed his.

"I just want...hell! I just want to hold her in my arms while we sleep, just be with her; that's all. I've tried different ways to get her to change her mind including asking her outright but the answer's always no." He scrubbed his hands over his face and dropped them defeated "You know how it feels when everything is just right; the day, the time, the woman in your arms and all you want is to hold her afterwards?" The men nodded, he did too "That's how it was. We were both tired, it was a hot rainy afternoon; perfect for lovers and I just wanted to curl up with her and sleep the rest of the afternoon away so I asked her to stay..."

"And she said no again?" AC filled in the blank.

"Yeah, so then I asked her to stay until I fell asleep, thinking that she'd drop off first but I did instead of her." At their raised brows, he rolled his eyes "Yeah, I know that I don't get tired easily but I haven't been sleeping much lately, mostly because I've been staying up half the night brooding about this situation and I conked out." He sighed heavily "Anyway when I woke up alone I was angry, I was so damn fed up I decided that since I'm the one that's had to push just to get our relationship this far, that it was time that I stopped playing nice and started pushing on this too."

"Well if you want something badly enough then you'll work for it, fight for it and/or push when necessary, otherwise I'd question just how much you really care." Oliver agreed and the men nodded as one.

"That's how I see it too." He concurred with an abrupt nod "However, figuring this was the only thing she'd been adamant about that I couldn't just force the issue but instead be subtle and sneaky to get around her objections." The men nodded in understanding, he sighed in relief they were with him and continued "Anyway, it was even muggier than it had been before the rain and when I joined Lois downstairs I could see was tired, confirmed that she hadn't caught a nap earlier and realised it wouldn't take much for her to drop off; which she did not long after dinner when I turned off all the lights." The men looked at each other, now feeling uneasy with the scenario he was painting. Unaware he'd lost his audience Clark continued "So I was going to wait until she was completely under then carry her up to my bed and..."

"My friend, surely you weren't going to resort to that?" J'onn cut in astonished.

"Yeah, why?" At J'onn's wince he looked at the others, saw heads shaking in disapproval and went on the defensive "Look, I wasn't expecting her to wake up happy about it. I knew she'd be pissed off and I was fully anticipating her yelling at me all day tomorrow and I swear that I wasn't going to try and charm way out of it. I just wanted her to see that the world wasn't going to stop spinning just because we slept together."

"And what would you have done if she didn't bother yelling but just packed up her things and left?" Victor asked pointedly. At the startled expression on Clark's face, his brows rose "Didn't you even give any thought to that scenario happening?"

"No, I mean it was only sleeping that's all. I wasn't intending to rape her while I was about it." He replied weakly.

"It's not the sleeping part Clark; it's the trust part that you could have broken if you'd gone ahead with your asinine idea in the first place." AC put in bluntly.

He exhaled heavily and scrubbed his hands through his hair "I didn't even think of that. I just thought she'd fight me for a few nights and then settle down about it."

"A few nights!" Oliver repeated stunned "Clark, if she's staying at the farm then she trusts you enough to feel safe there. Despite the fact that men are naturally stronger than women, a person's most vulnerable in sleep and she's uneasy about sleeping with anyone. You'd have been lucky if she ever spoke to you again, never mind a few nights of her fighting with you about it."

Thinking how close he'd come to destroying her trust and losing her completely, he shuddered and admitted "Well the only reason I didn't go ahead with it was because she did fall asleep and while I was waiting for her to go completely under, I discovered why she's not comfortable with the idea."

"Why?"

The question shot out from all of them at once. They looked at each other shamefaced but their curiosity couldn't be ignored and dying to know they turned back to him eagerly.

"I'm not saying." He retorted candidly much to their disgust "I'll only tell you that she's a very restless sleeper. Anyway, I wanted to be sure so I kind of tested her while she was asleep just to confirm if what I suspected was true and now I don't know if I should tell her that I know or not."

"When you say that you tested her, what you mean is that you tricked her to confirm your suspicions, correct?" Bruce announced baldly.

"Tested, tricked, it's the same thing and yeah that's what I did." Clark agreed guiltily "I didn't even think about how I shouldn't be doing it until after my curiosity was satisfied, which is the where the problem comes in, because I well remember how I used to feel when anyone did that to me."

"How did you feel?" J'onn prodded point-blank.

"The same way you've all felt when some nosey parker masquerading as a friend, stuck their beak into your private life." He replied heavily "Equal parts betrayed and hurt with a good dose of pissed off to round it out. It didn't matter what their intentions were, the feelings were the same and the hurt goes deep when it's someone you trust or call friend."

They all nodded slowly in agreement.

"What do I do? Do I tell her everything or do I tell her nothing? If I tell her I could lose her but would holding this back hurt our relationship?" He sighed and swiped a hand down his face before repeating "What the hell should I do?"

"Ok, so how did you used to handle it when people did it to you?" AC asked simply.

"Well except for Lana, I used to get angry and pretty much tell the person to shove off. Depending on whom it was, over time we either worked things or we didn't." He gave a short harsh bark of self-mocking laughter "Here's the best part though, I used to stick my nose into other people's business all the time and then justify my reasons to them for doing so. I just didn't like anyone doing it to me under any circumstances."

"If you felt free to mind my business but then got snotty with me for minding your business; I would have told you to go fuck yourself." Bruce commented placidly.

Clark burst out laughing "I wish that I'd known you back then Bruce, I think you would have been good for me."

"I did tell you a couple of times; I was just polite about it." Oliver reminded him proudly.

"Me too." AC threw in cheerfully.

"And me." Bart waved a hand.

"Yeah you all did, I think even Lex did once or twice but I was pretty full of myself back then and none of you were harsh enough to get through my complacency." He rubbed a hand over his head and grimaced "Anyway, getting back on track. I don't want Lois to tell me to belt off and I don't want her to get angry or think she can't trust me. Basically I want her to let me off the hook without having to face any repercussions whatsoever."

"You're kidding right?" Bruce asked humorously. At Clark's guilty but teeny-weeny headshake, he turned to look at the others at a loss for words.

Oliver sat forward and looked at Clark like he was a fascinating object on display "Were you dropped on your head a lot as a baby?"

His shoulders fell "I know that I'm wishing for the moon but I'm hoping one of you has a miracle up your sleeve."

"If I had a miracle to stop a woman from cracking the shits with me when I deserve it, I'd be keeping it for myself." Bart sniped sarcastically.

His shoulders fell even further.

Taking pity on his pathetic state they all either shook their heads or rolled their eyes, then began to bend their minds looking for a solution to the problem at hand.

Hoping a little liquid might make the process easier Clark raced to the fridge for a beer, asked if there were any takers and at the calls of yes, tossed them around before retaking his seat.

"You said before, except for Lana. What did you mean Clark? Why was she different to anyone else?" J'onn asked inquisitively.

"Well given there were a lot more important things going on at the time, I doubt if you cared enough to notice J'onn but back when we first met, I wanted to get into Lana's pants and set up camp there. So I basically let her do whatever the hell she liked without raising so much as a token protest." At his friends frown, Clark admitted feelingly "Oh yeah, I was a shocker." Taking a gulp of his beer, he swiped his hand over his mouth "And here's a bit of news that should come as no surprise to anyone. She was in Smallville a week ago and tried a new variation of coming onto me that she's been doing for more years than I care to remember."

Oliver's brows rose "Didn't she see that you were with Lois?"

"Like she cares." He grunted rudely "She was gutless enough to wait until Lois wasn't at my place before turning up to sleaze onto me, but as for actually caring about Lois; no. That would require her to think of someone other than herself for more than a minute and that's beyond her ability."

"She does not sound like a nice person." J'onn commented disapprovingly.

"That's an understatement." He stated freely.

"But from what you said before, it does not sound like that has changed from when she was younger." At Clark's soft snort in response he asked plainly "I do not understand; did you not see that years ago?"

"Oh yeah but how can I put this?" He tapped his fingers on this thigh meditatively "Lana and I were the embodiment of the superficial couple and even now I couldn't tell you who was a bigger phony." His lip curled in mockery "Me, for saying I had real feelings for her but chose to ignore every ugly characteristic in her nature because the outside packaging was so dazzling it made my dick harder than The Rock of Gibraltar." He flashed a smile at the sniggers but didn't pause "Or her, who was actually thrilled to find one idiot willing to overlook all her crap but did occasionally voice the admonition that I had to accept her as she really was. Yet never made me declare outright that I did, nor dumped me for not following that particular order; the only one she ever let me get away with by the way." He added as a derisive aside before continuing scornfully "However since we both knew that was never going to happen, we didn't bother resolving the issue or even addressing it. We simply swept it under the rug which is where we put anything unpleasant that we didn't want to deal with, so pretended didn't exist and reassured ourselves of our maturity by jumping into the bed lickety-split whenever the opportunity presented itself, to prove that we weren't shallow."

"I use that way to prove I'm a grown up all the time." Bart remarked much struck.

"Oh yeah, well I use it to prove that I'm not shallow and I've done it with a number of different women this month alone." Oliver shared proudly with the class.

"He wins." AC grinningly pointed at Oliver.

Clark snickered in appreciation and lifted his drink to them in salute.

J'onn's lip's twitched "I understand now; she turned you on."

"I was a kid, flicking through a National Geographic could turn me on." Clark declared frankly "But I was wild for Lana and since I liked to think that I was a cut above the average randy guy, I never saw it as simply wanting to have sex with her but to physically and spiritually bond with her..." He looked at all, saw their grins and attested solemnly "...and I would have sold my soul to the devil for just that opportunity."

"And how often did you want to spiritually bond with her?" Victor questioned gravely but in a voice quivering with mirth.

"Well on average it was about 12 hours a day." Clark grunted amused "The other 12 hours were spent in a constant state of panic of when she was next going to start hissing at me, since every moment in her company was fraught with the fear of being sucked dry by an emotional vampire at any given moment. So as you can see it wasn't just my immortal soul that was in danger but my mental health as well."

The men burst out laughing at his summarisation.

"So what happened when she hit on you this time?" Victor asked curiously.

"Oh well, I figured that since she'd brought it to me that it was open season to take the opportunity and really drive the point home because I was sick of her annual vamp routine. Plus I was also pissed off on Lois' behalf because she'd defended Lana to me and yet there she was stabbing Lo in the back." He replied without reserve and recalling his conversation with her, his grin turned wicked.

oOo

**7****th**** August ****- **_Kent__ Farm:__ 11am_

Closing the front door he followed Lana into the house and watched silently as she looked around the lounge room.

His eyes followed hers, sweeping around to see Lois' wrap tossed over the back of the couch, her shoes kicked off near it. A pair of glittery dangly earrings sitting on the coffee table, along with a bottle of nail polish and a couple of toe separators which he still thought was hilarious, plus a duo of those fancy hair clip things she liked to wear. Feeling pleased at seeing little bits and pieces of her feminine fripperies mixed among his things, he shook it off to focus on the woman in front of him.

"Lois isn't here?"

He heard the coyness in the tone and playfully chided "You know that she isn't, or you wouldn't be."

"Ok, so you caught me." She tittered demurely "Is the dog hers?"

He glanced at Attila and saw the mutt was looking at him with a piece of rope dangling hopefully from his mouth indicating it was play time. Sending the beast an apologetic look, turned back to Lana "Yeah."

Certain that he heard a loud indignant sniff coming from the animal, Clark silently promised to make it up to him later.

Lana nodded slowly and flicked her eyes around the room once more "He looks at home."

Meaning, just how at home was Lois in his life? Well that was none of her business.

Giving no reply other than a one shoulder shrug, he watched as she turned in a circle to encompass the room "Your farm has changed a lot outside but in here, even though you have different furniture and things, the house still has the same hospitable feeling to it."

"This is mom's doing. She's the one with the magic touch to make the house so inviting, I just keep it clean. The outside is mine."

Lana nodded and puckered her lips as if in thought "Well whatever you're doing must be working; the farm looks like a success."

"It is; very." He confirmed steadily.

"I'm glad; I know that you always wanted a normal life on the farm."

Shows how well you think you know me he replied silently but answered audibly, "Actually I didn't. I just wanted a normal life period; it didn't matter where that took place. The farm was only convenient because my family owned it, nothing more."

"And now?"

"Now I love being a farmer."

"Do you also like being a restaurateur?" She asked curiously.

"I certainly like the profit we make from it, yes." He replied truthfully.

She smiled slowly in reply and stepped towards the kitchen, trailing her fingers lightly over the island before coming to a stop with her back to the window where the light poured in from the behind "Do you still have the loft?"

Knowing she'd deliberately chosen that position by the window to showcase herself, he smiled to show his appreciation while wondering how long it was going to take before she showed her hand, so that he could show his. Giving himself a shake to be patient, he held back the desire to yell 'neither of us gives a crap about the loft now get to the point' and instead replied casually "The loft is part of the barn so it's still there but these days its used to store things for the farm."

"That's a shame." Lana smiled bewitchingly.

Hoping to hurry this along, Clark took a step closer and replied suggestively "Not really. The loft was just an exaggerated version of a clubhouse and I'm much too old for those. Besides what would I need a drafty old loft for when I've got full run of the house?"

"Not quite the full run, since Lois is sharing it with you." She charged delicately.

"She's staying here for a few days, yes." He acknowledged with a slight inclination of the head.

Lana brushed the hair away from her face and remarked in a manner both hesitant and curious "I was kind of surprised last night to learn the two of you were together."

"Why?" He asked genuinely curious.

"Well Lois told me that she hasn't been back in Smallville for long."

"True enough."

"Yet she's already staying with you."

"True again but neither of us are children so we both know the score."

"And what is the score?"

"Lana we're not fresh out of high school now. Surely I don't have to explain it to you." Clark returned silkily.

Her lips twisted in acknowledgment "No you don't, but I wouldn't have thought she'd be your type."

"It's been a long time, so how could you know what my type is?" He asked gently.

Her nose wrinkled "Well I was once upon a time and Lois is nothing like me so..."

"No she's not." He murmured in agreement.

"I also remember how the two of you used to feel about each other."

"We didn't know how we felt half the time." He admitted candidly "Some days we got along, other days we didn't."

"And now you do."

"Now we still annoy each other but it's different."

"We never did." She put forward as a deliberate hint.

Since he'd allowed her to lead the conversation in this direction, her hint wasn't needed. But given that he was playing the role of mouse, to the woman who erroneously thought she was the cat, Clark allowed his lips to curve up as if in remembrance.

"No, our relationship had a..." He paused deliberately for effect before finishing with "...different flavour."

"We burned bright." Lana stated absolutely.

"That's what being young is all about." He agreed candidly "At that age solid and steady are dirty words and the future is 20 minutes away, not 20 years."

She nodded minutely and moved closer "But taking chances shouldn't be restricted only to the young..." She moved closer again until she was only a hairsbreadth from him "...or where's the joy in life?"

"The joy in life comes from being happy with yourself, not from looking for the next thrill." He murmured low voiced.

"But if you don't reach out for what you want, then you miss out and where's the joy in that?" Lana finished huskily and placing her hand on his chest, slipped it up around his neck to tug his head down.

"What if what you want isn't good for you?" He uttered throatily.

"That's where the thrill comes in." She whispered back.

His head lowered until his lips were almost brushing hers "But we still have a little problem."

"Are you expecting Lois back soon?" She breathed softly.

"No."

"Then what's the problem?"

His hand slid up to grasp her wrist gently and keeping his eyes on hers, he whispered as if sharing a secret "The problem is you're wasting your time Lana, I've seen it all before; both the seductive little schemes and the body. There's not one inch of you that I'm not familiar with, or interested in."

Her head jerked back but instead of throwing the retort he could see burning on her lips, she tilted her face up slightly and purred in a dulcet voice "Maybe you're being too hasty. Aren't you even a little bit curious to see if the spark is still there?"

"No."

"Are you sure? After all when Lois' little vacation is over and you're fling with her is done, I'll still be here."

"Must you be so tiresome Lana?" He asked in a bored voice.

Her eyes darkened with anger while her hand tugged to be free.

Tightening his grip, not enough to hurt but enough for her to feel the pressure, he raked his eyes over her face and stressed pointedly "I go after what I want to go after; I **don****'****t** like it coming after me. Even as a kid I preferred being the hunter, not the hunted and that hasn't changed. So keep it in mind for future reference." He finished in a hard voice before letting her go and taking a step back.

"As a _wimpy_ kid you would have done anything to have me." She threw back in ridicule.

"In case you've forgotten, the wimpy kid _**HAD**_ you! More than once…" He paused for a beat before adding the rider "…and always at your invitation."

Her face flamed with colour "You know what I mean."

"Yes I know what you mean but let me make something abundantly clear, so there's no room for misunderstanding." His eyes locked onto hers with determination "My taste in everything has improved with age. You see those bottles in the wine rack over there?" He thumbed over his shoulder "Not one of them is the $5 swill you get from the Supermarket because I'm no longer interested in the cheap and nasty. I now only go first class in every area of my life."

Her nails bit into her clenched fists as she retorted nettled "Are you calling me cheap and nasty, or saying that I'm not good enough for you?"

"Both." He replied succinctly "You mentioned that once upon a time Lois wasn't my type and you were; well truer words were never spoken. I had to grow up to appreciate Lois and like any fine wine she improves with age. Whereas you were what I wanted when my palate was that of an adolescent and any old rotgut will do but now that I've developed a taste for the finer things in life, you don't meet my standards."

When her hand rose to slap his face, he stepped back and warned softly "You don't want to do that."

He knew she understood that he wouldn't feel the hit and all she'd get was a broken hand for her trouble. He looked at her coolly as the breath heaved out of her lungs in both agitation and fury, before she spun away to stride angrily into the lounge room and towards the front door "What happened to all that courtesy your parents instilled in you?"

"You sucked it all out of me." He called out genially "Along with the sanity of every guy who crossed your path."

Spinning around she snarled "Bastard!"

"Oh; very witty." He jeered disdainfully.

Plucking the book coming towards his head out of the air Clark set it down and pointed tauntingly "If you have a mind to throw anything else, can you throw that figurine on the mantle please. I've always hated it."

He could hear her teeth grind with fury as her fists clenched impotently with rage and wondered if he should poke the bear again just for fun.

"Does Lois know what a shit you are?" Lana hurled at him wrathfully.

His smiled flashed out "She's always known but these days she says it makes her hot."

"Tell her that she's welcome to you with my pleasure."

"It's mostly mine." He sang out happily.

With a manic scream Lana ran towards the front door, pulled it open and bolted.

Coming back to the present he smiled at his friends and responding to Bart's question replied "Let's just say that I doubt she'll bother me ever again."

"Did you tell Lois?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Yeah I did; she was disappointed in Lana but not surprised." Shaking that off, he looked at his friends "Anyway, speaking of Lois; what do I do?"

"You said that you thought she was using the sleeping apart thing as a way to hold you off." Bart queried and at Clark's nod, questioned "Is that what you really thought?"

He sighed and nodded then shrugged undecided "I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking, I just know that the issue of us not sleeping together felt like a wall between us and I wanted to tear it down. It felt like no matter how close we got that she still didn't trust me and I hated it. I just...I wanted it gone."

"Have you told her about yourself?" AC challenged abruptly.

"No." He replied after a small hesitation.

"So basically you wanted her to be open with you, while you were stayed nice and cosy behind your own walls." Oliver summed up neatly.

"No!" At the scepticism on their faces, he retorted nettled "Don't look at me like that. I wasn't using my secret to hold her at arm's length; I was going to tell her..."

"When?" J'onn cut in without apology.

Having no reply he insisted stubbornly "I was."

"When?" AC repeated the question.

"Someday."

"Someday when?" Bruce pressed harder "Tomorrow, next week, next month; when?"

"I don't know." He gritted out between clenched teeth "When the time was right."

"And when was that going to be?" Bart asked cordially.

His shoulders moved uneasily "Soon."

"I see; soon! Well that answers the question." Oliver jeeringly sneered.

Clark gnashed his teeth and gripped the bottle harder "Get off my back."

"Answer the question first." Bruce growled and thumped him in the chest.

Feeling the beer spilling onto his hand, he swore richly and heaved the broken bottle towards the bin before rubbing his hand on his jeans "What does it matter when. This was only supposed to be a summer fling, that's all. It was never supposed to get this far and..."

"Bullshit!" Oliver jumped in rudely "It might have started as a fling although I'm not convinced of that but the rules changed a long time ago and you know it." He ignored Clark's defiant stare and continued remorselessly "You said it yourself; you're having a relationship with the woman and I can start listing all the ways it IS a relationship going back to the first time you told us you were dating her." He began to flick up his fingers one by one as he made his points "But let's start with the three dead giveaways. You've stopped seeing other women and stopped her from dating anyone else too. You told me Lois is thinking of extending her holiday but I'll bet she'd be surprised to hear that and now you've got her stashed at the farm. So just stop with the fling crap because it doesn't cut any ice." He finished in a hard voice.

Clark's eyes dropped; exhaling heavily he conceded the point "Fine, but I was going to tell her."

"When?" Bart asked again.

"One of these days."

"When?" Victor repeated steadily.

"I don't know."

"**WHEN**!" They all yelled frustrated.

"When she was so tangled up in me that she wouldn't be able to break free no matter what, that's when!" Clark yelled back infuriated.

The men sat back as one satisfied.

"Shit!" Raking shaking fingers through his hair Clark pushed up and stomped over to stare at one of the screens.

"You know that bright idea you had about carrying Lois to bed every night until she tamely submitted to the idea of sleeping with you?" Bruce questioned casually.

He didn't respond just kept his back to the room.

"Well it was stupid!" Bruce answered for him then continued mercilessly "Do you know when people do the stupidest things?"

His shoulders stiffened but he refused to speak or turn around.

"It's when they fall in love." Bruce supplied helpfully "And do you know why that is?" Not expecting a response he finished bluntly "It's because they feel insecure and scared about where they stand in a relationship."

"I'm not in l..." He stopped, heaved out a deep breath and rubbed his eyes "She's got me so tied up in knots I can't think straight." He turned around and leant back against the console "Apart from my mom, Lois is the only woman I've never had ulterior motives towards."

"What'd you mean?" AC queried quietly.

"I mean that my..." He paused looking for the right word and supplied "...dealings with the women who have passed through my life, haven't always been completely altruistic."

"In what way?"

"I wanted something from all of them." He stated honestly "When I was younger I didn't just hate being an alien, I hated myself because of it. Consequently I had self esteem issues out the wazoo and was subsequently terrified that I was going to end up alone and lonely. So I cultivated relationships with girls who would give me what I wanted." He sighed and shrugged "Chloe gave me admiration. So I deliberately fostered her crush on me to get it all the more because my ego was taking a hell of a beating from Lana. Kyla was the first girl that made me feel like I could be myself around her and I wanted that connection, that openness. So I threw myself wholeheartedly into that short lived relationship figuring she was the one. About a minute after she died I figured that I must have been wrong, so I went back to fawning over Lana again until Alicia came along. In a bizarre way she gave me the normal relationship that I wanted because she was an oddity like me. So I was willing to excuse her unbalanced mentality as nothing in the bigger picture. Then she up and died too, so it was back to Lana once more. It always came back to her because she was the one I wanted acceptance from in every way that matters when you're young. So I kept at her until I got it and didn't care what I had to do to keep it. Since then all I've wanted was physical gratification, so I formed loose attachments with women whenever I got the urge." He paused for a beat before and finished candidly "Lois is the only one I don't want anything from. Don't want to take from; I just want to give."

"You must want something from her." J'onn nudged gently.

"I only want her to stay in Smallville with me."

"Why?" Oliver asked simply.

Instead of answering he meditated out loud "You know in the back of my mind I always knew that one day I'd be ready to settle down and even had a vague idea of the kind of woman I'd pick. She'd be nice and sweet; always agree with everything I said and be content just keeping house for me and any kids we'd be lucky enough to have." He shook his head amused "Lois will never be that woman and I'm glad."

"Why?" Oliver repeated again.

"Because although she isn't the kind of woman I imagined sharing my life with, she's the sum and substance of everything I need." He confessed truthfully.

"You're in love with her." Bart stated definitively.

Sighing in defeat Clark mentally waved goodbye to the old glory days when he was happy being a complete dog with any woman in reaching distance and said hello to spending the rest of his days with the despotic little harridan that he found irresistible.

"Yeah, so what'd I do?"

The men looked at each other and grinned hugely. Kent had finally joined the ranks of pathetic males unsure of women world-wide.

"Can you lot stop smiling and help me out here?" He groused irritated at their stupid grins.

"You need help at your age?" AC shook his head in fake sorrow.

Giving him a disgusted look Clark stalked to the fridge and grabbed a beer "Do any of you want another or are you on duty?"

"We're on duty and although it's a quiet right now, we can't assume it's going to stay that way so we'd better not have another. However, I could go for some coffee..." Bruce smiled at the guys "Who else wants one?"

Seeing the raised hands waving the empty bottles, Clark figured he'd better play the role of waiter if he wanted their assistance. Zipping to the kitchen area he returned with the requested beverages before reclaiming his drink. Popping the top he took a huge gulp and retook a seat among them.

"Now to answer the question; yes I need help at my age." He mimicked sarcastically.

"Clark how many women have you romanced?"

"What the hell's that got to do with anything; Lois isn't a throwaway." His replied impatiently to AC's question.

"Yeah but you've been in other relationships." Bart put in slowly.

"I've had sex, that's it!" He growled peeved "The only girlfriend I've had is Lana, and that was 13 years ago. I was 21 when we broke up and I'm now 34 so no, I don't have a clue."

"Well whatever you're doing must be working since Lois is at the farm with you." Oliver reminded him patiently.

"I know but that was before you lot made me..."

"Admit what you already knew was true." J'onn interjected swiftly.

"Yes!" Clark smiled lopsided "Assholes!"

The men grinned cheerfully and made a show of patting each other on the back.

"Ah knock it off!"

Sobering Bruce patted him on the arm in solidarity "Clark it'll be fine, just go on doing what you've already been doing."

"Ok, I'll work it out..." He raked a hand through his hair "...but how do I tell her that I love her and want her to stay with me in Smallville and all that crap?"

"Well firstly don't use the word crap." Bart admonished wisely. When Clark frowned he shook his head quickly "Seriously don't do that."

"I wasn't going to do that." He scowled exasperated "I do know how to talk to women; I just don't know how to do this." He waved one hand expansively "I mean what are the rules? Am I supposed to take her out somewhere romantic to tell her, or do I say it while we're making love..."

"Don't do that." The men called out in alarm.

"What?"

"The first time you say the words, don't do it while actually you're doing it; it's fatal." Bruce charged earnestly.

"What...but won't she like hearing it then so she knows that she's important to me and...?" He trailed off when they all shook their heads vigorously "Why not?"

"Because she won't think it's you talking, she'll think it's your dick." Victor declared without mincing words.

"Listen, I'm not some raw kid who thinks getting a hard on for a woman means I'm in love ok." Clark replied with a touch of impatience "I've had a lot of good sex over the years and I mean it was SO good, my dick _did_ fall in love but I didn't, nor did I go around declaring anything. What idiot would?" He sneered disparagingly.

"You'd be surprised." Oliver mumbled embarrassed.

Clark threw him a scornful look "You're pathetic."

"Guilty as charged but if you go against our advice and tell her during, then be prepared to spend a copious amount of time afterwards convincing her that you meant it or didn't mean it; whatever the case maybe." Oliver shuddered dramatically "Either way it can turn into a whole big thing."

The men all nodded so seriously, he nodded in return "Fine, so when should I say it?"

"You'll know when the time is right." Victor advised helpfully.

"But don't wait for too long." Oliver cautioned with a quick head shake.

AC nodded emphatically "Yeah because women need to hear the words buddy."

"They need to hear a LOT of words." Bruce stressed with a grimace.

"They also need to know they're special." J'onn counselled solicitously.

"And they really need the strokes." Bart rounded out then tacked on "Oh and ambiance is really important too."

His head swivelled from one man to the next and when they finally ran down he smiled sarcastically "Thanks guys, you're a great help; really."

Ignoring his manner they nodded affably in return.

Rolling his eyes, he got to his feet and after finishing off the beer tossed the bottle in the bin "Do I tell Lois about what I did and that I know why she didn't want us to sleep together?"

"Well you want to be honest with her but not too honest because that's just suicidal." Victor advised solicitously.

The men nodded heartily in agreement of his sage advice.

Clark frowned confused "So does that mean yes or no?"

Bruce lifted his eyes to the ceiling and smacked his forehead "It means that you should tell her what you know but not what you were planning to do because that was just plain dumb and you weren't thinking straight. So either keep it to yourself or at least wait until you've got her well and truly hooked, before deciding to open up."

"You think?"

"Yes!" The men all affirmed loudly in unison.

His lips twisted in acknowledgment "Ok, thanks guys; I mean it." Leaving with a two finger salute he zipped off leaving them behind to congratulate each other before getting back to the boring watchtower house-tidying they'd been doing prior.

oOo

**14**** August **– approx: 12.30pm

Lois stored the last of her possessions in the car and looked towards the barn wondering if she should casually ask Clark if he was coming over to her place tonight, or not say anything and just leave it up to him to decide given his current mood.

She normally wouldn't be so riddled with nerves at the thought of talking to him but he'd been weird the past few days. He'd been quiet, almost moody. He hadn't made any smartass remarks about her cooking, hadn't tried to frustrate her or even feel her up. This morning she'd tried for a double barrelled reaction by wearing low cut everything while giving him breakfast but instead of tossing her on the counter when she waved all the goodies in his face, he thanked her for the pop tart she handed him then said he had work to do before leaving the house.

He also hadn't asked her to stay at the farm longer and in a way she was glad about that. On the one hand she wanted to but on the other felt that a little distance between them would be beneficial to her equilibrium. Being here the last few weeks had been so good that she'd started wishing for a more permanent future with him and thinking like that was dangerous. He was dangerous to her peace of mind.

The thought of leaving him in a couple of weeks was already hard, so hopefully just being back in her own space would make saying goodbye hurt a little less. Yeah ok that was crap, but it made her feel somewhat better to think it.

Jingling the car keys absently she took a deep breath and headed towards the barn. She had to get Attila anyway so she might as well do that but first she was going to talk to Clark. Forget about the nerves invading her stomach, she couldn't take wondering what was on his mind and if it was about her or them.

Stepping inside the barn she waited for her eyes to adjust from the blinding light outside to the dimness inside, saw Attila was fast asleep on his back with all four paws in the air on his play-mat and smiling turned to watch Clark working on his dad's old tractor. He said that he kept it for sentimental reasons and although she believed that, she also thought he liked tinkering with the old relic to keep his hands busy while his mind was otherwise occupied.

Grabbing a small stool, she made herself comfortable then reached out and touched his arm lightly "Clark."

oOo

Clark worked on the tractor while silently wondering what he should tell Lois first.

That he loved her. That he wanted her to stay. That he'd tricked her and was sorry. That he knew her secret.

He wished there was a handbook for this stuff, he wished that he could predict how she was going to react to any of those confessions but couldn't, so was stuck trying to figure it out himself. His mind had run in circles and he was no closer to knowing how to start now then when he woke up 3 days ago. He'd gone downstairs determined to confess all, only to chicken out when he saw her and that situation hadn't changed.

Hearing the crunch of gravel under feet outside the barn, his radar went on alert. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Lois grabbed a stool and took a seat beside him but kept his eyes on the engine while his internal focus shifted to her.

At her touch on his arm he tensed. This was it and he wasn't ready.

"Clark."

"Hmm."

"I'm all packed but..."

His head swivelled around "Packed, what'd you mean you're packed?"

She smiled hesitantly "Well I'm going back to my place today but..."

"Why?"

She shrugged lightly "No reason really, it's just that I haven't been there for several weeks now and I rented the house for the whole summer. So I'd like to spend some time there given what I'm paying."

"You've spent more time there than you have here." He frowned unhappily.

Seeing the expression on his face caused her spirits to lift "I know but maybe I can come back again and stay here with you next weekend. If you're ok with that I mean."

"No I'm not ok with that; I'd prefer you to stay here." He growled annoyed.

She would stay if her heart wasn't in danger which is why she needed to go, but that didn't stop her from wanting to dance a jig at his reply "Does that mean you want me to come back next weekend?"

"Yes I want you to come back next weekend." He retorted snappishly and when she leant forward to press her lips to his, he swiftly cupped the back of her neck and dragged her off the stool and into his arms.

Lois squealed and laughed against his mouth. When he let her go she looked down at herself then at him reproachfully "I'm going to need a shower and a strong grease remover for my clothes."

He looked at the grease stains on her top, twirled his finger and when she turned obediently, smiled in satisfaction at seeing his hand print on the seat of her hot-pink shorts.

He'd barely touched her the last few days, in truth he hadn't trusted himself to be with her and not say the words so seeing his smudged dirty hand prints on her clothes gave him a little thrill.

God, he'd become a sap.

He didn't want to be a sap.

What man in his right mind wanted to be sap?

He looked at the grease stains on her top again, the one's _**his**_ hands had put there and felt like strutting.

Ah shit! She WAS making him sappy.

At her voice he gave himself a mental shake and concentrated.

"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I was leaving but..." Righting the stool she sat down and looked at him directly "Is everything ok?"

He nodded silently.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah Lo I'm just..." He broke off, grabbed the rag and gave his full attention to wiping his hands.

There was no point in putting it off, the longer he did the more churned up he felt. She deserved the truth. He didn't know how she was going to react; the only thing he knew for certain was that he wasn't going to let her push him away. His leverage would be better if she was staying at the farm but on the other hand it was easier for him if she wasn't.

Confessing that he knew her secret was going to be painless compared to telling her that he loved her. Talking it over with the guys had seemed relatively easy in comparison to putting his heart on the line with Lois herself and maybe being rejected. If he could be assured her response was going to be a positive one; read that to mean she felt the same way in return then it would be a piece of cake.

He'd tried to imagine how he'd feel if he said the words and she just stared at him without speaking. Well that had been an eye opener. All he could imagine after that was Lois giving him either kind looks or a wide berth. Once those words were out, they couldn't be taken back and the stakes were too high for him to lose.

He couldn't, wouldn't accept friendship. He'd rather have nothing than that.

But neither was he ready to test it and then lose her, all within days of discovering that he cared about her, more than he cared about anyone else in the world.

Tossing down the rag Clark stood and tugged her into his arms for a long deep kiss.

When his hold slackened Lois smiled curiously "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that one for?"

"That one was for me..." He rubbed his thumb along her jaw and pressed his lips lightly to hers once again "I wanted to kiss you now in case you're too pissed off to let me do it afterwards."

"What have you done?" She asked directly.

Slipping an arm around her waist, he manoeuvred her out of the barn, to the house and into the lounge room.

Grabbing onto his arm, Lois tugged "Hang on Clark, we can't sit down. We've both got grease on our clothes."

Figuring his mom would rightly kill him but wanting to stay inside so Lois couldn't jump into her car and zoom away, he nodded "Ok, I'll just get a couple of towels."

Suiting action to words he was back minutes later. He placed one on the couch and when she sat down, placed the second one on the coffee table in front of it and took a seat, effectively keeping her close and enclosed.

She waited but when he didn't say anything just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, she nudged gently "Come on; it can't be that bad."

He bobbed his head as if to himself before looking up to address her "The other night when you asked me how long you were asleep, I said it was only for a minute or two and when you asked me if you'd said anything I let you believe that you hadn't; I lied babe. You were asleep for a good half hour and you did talk."

She felt the breath catch in her throat but forced out a careless laugh "Well that's ok, a lot of people talk in their sleep and now you know why I prefer sleeping alone, so forget it." She patted his hand and began to rise only for him to catch her hands and tug her back down.

"You didn't talk about inconsequential things Lois. I asked you a few questions and you answered them."

Hearing the apologetic tone in his voice, seeing what she knew was sympathy on his face her hackles began to rise. She didn't need or want his pity. She hated pity almost as much as she hated accusations.

Determined to pretend ignorance, she gave a one shoulder shrug of indifference "So you asked me a couple of questions and I replied, big deal. At least you're not accusing me of drooling on you."

"I'm not accusing you of anything Lois I'm trying to tell you..."

She knew what he was trying to tell her; she wasn't an idiot. Why couldn't he understand that she didn't want to talk about it?

"And I'm trying to tell you that as long as you didn't ask for my bank account number then it's not important." She cut in hastily and began to push up to her feet but fell back onto the couch when he tugged her down again "_What_?"

"I've only just started..."

"Well I don't have the time or inclination to sit around and chat about my strange sleeping habits, so you'll have to excuse me." When his hand tightened, she glared "Clark will you let you go already?"

He loosened his hold but didn't let go and kept his eyes on hers "Last night when you answered my questions Lois you did that by reading my m..."

Not waiting to hear anymore she shook of his hand and walked swiftly through the kitchen "I don't have time to listen to this." Ripping open the back door, she stomped down the stairs with him trailing after her "So I talk in my sleep; big fucking deal. Well news flash Clark, you're not the first man to tell me that and I doubt you'll be the last."

"_Yes I will!"_

"No you won't."

"_We haven't finished!"_

"Yes we have."

"_Where are you going?"_

"Home!"

Feeling desperate he yelled _"__I__'__m__an__alien.__"_

"Shut up!"

"_I'm not joking Lois."_

Spinning around she stabbed her finger into his chest "Stop it! I'm not going to dignify that bullshit with a response."

"What bullshit?" Clark asked calmly.

"That you're an alien." She hissed angrily.

"I never said that out loud Lo." He told her softly and saw the colour leech out of her face.

She stared at him dumbfounded and half shook her head in denial "Yes you did, I heard you."

"I yelled it in my head Lois and you heard it in yours."

She shook her head again "No I didn't, I'm not a mind reader so..."

"Yes you are." He interrupted gently "I know you didn't have that ability years ago, and I don't know how or when it happened to you but you have it now." He stepped forward, she stepped back and not giving her time to evade, he quickly crossed the distance between them and reaching out, grasped her hand and tugged her to him "I don't care Lo, and what I said about being an alien is true. Read my mind babe, you'll see that I'm telling you the truth."

She swallowed hard, her breath fell in little pants from her lips "I don't...I can't read minds. I don't know where you got that idea from but you're wrong."

"No I'm not. Last night when you fell asleep I discovered what you could do by accident. I was thinking to myself and you began answering, as if you could hear my thoughts. After that I tested you to prove my suspicions by asking specific questions and you answered them." He paused and added quietly "Just now you did it again. Everything I said from the time you walked out of the kitchen wasn't said out loud Lois."

She pulled out of his arms, tottered to the front stairs and sat down heavily pressing her face into the palm of her hands. "I didn't even realise." She looked up at him with tears swimming in her eyes and shook her head "I'm so sorry, I'm usually so careful. I swear that I don't go around reading people just for fun."

Clark sat down beside her, picked up her hand and held it "I never thought you did."

"I'm always on guard, always so careful, but I wasn't thinking and..." She paused and swallowed heavily "...and I never meant to do that to you."

"I know babe. I think the only reason you did was because I'd brought up the conversation in the first place and it scared you." He pressed her hand softly "I've read as much as I can on the subject over the last couple of days and although there isn't much, the few people who have the ability and are open to talking about it said they've learnt to control their thoughts and guard their mind so only tend to slip up when they're feeling angry, scared or vulnerable." He smiled crookedly "I could see that you felt cornered when I first mentioned it and I could tell that you were getting angry the more I kept pushing which is why I purposely did it; so that you'd out yourself. I tricked you Lo, both now and other night."

"You've said that twice now but what'd you mean?"

He knew what the guys had said and would love to have followed their advice but couldn't do it. Honesty was a two way street; he couldn't expect to get it from her, if he wasn't going to give it. Hoping that she wouldn't pick up something heavy to hit him with, he clasped her hand tighter.

"When I woke up the other day after we'd made love and you weren't there, I was determined that was the last time I was going to wake up without you. I could see that you were still tired which is why I asked if you'd had a nap and when you said no I figured it wouldn't take much to get you to fall asleep that night. So I set the stage after dinner by turning of all the lights before snuggling down with you to watch a documentary that I knew you'd find boring enough to fall asleep." Her lips twitched, he took a deep breath and pushed out the rest "I was going to wait until you were completely under and then carry you up to my bed so that we'd sleep together."

He felt her body stiffen and pressed her hand gently "I honestly didn't think you had a genuine reason for being so against the idea Lo, or I never would have thought of doing it. I just thought maybe an ex of yours had complained about you being a restless sleeper which put you off sleeping with anyone but it wasn't important to me if you were or not; I just wanted to be with you." At the lightening of her expression, he teased softly "In fact, I thought you might even be so profuse with gratitude to me for not giving you a hard time about your awful sleeping habits, that you embarrass me with the riches of your praise."

She chuckled softly and shook her head "Why do you insist on digging yourself into these holes?"

He grinned before sobering and telling her the rest "Anyway, when you dropped off I was just sitting there thinking stuff to myself while waiting for you to go under properly, when you made a remark that seemed to coincide with my thoughts. I was a bit startled at first but then shrugged it off as coincidence. However, when you did it again a couple of minutes later I wanted to know if what I suspected was true, so purposely threw a few questions at you. It was only afterwards that I stopped to think that I'd invaded your privacy and I felt like a worm for doing it. So I woke you up and proceeded to lie. I'm sorry babe; I shouldn't have done any of it but I can't take it back."

She licked her lips nervously "Why did you lie?"

"I didn't know what to do." He rubbed his free hand over the back of his neck "I told you that I'm an alien and it's the truth Lo. Well I remembered how I felt when people used to stick their nose into my life to satisfy their curiosity, or try to discover my secret and it was worse when it was someone close to me, so I was scared of how you'd react." She nodded slowly, he tilted up her chin to look into her eyes "I had discovered your secret by accident Lo, but I'd confirmed it using trickery. I was worried you'd feel any number of emotions and they were all bad. The only good outcome I could imagine was that you'd feel relieved that I knew but that was the one I thought had the smallest chance of happening."

"So why did you tell me then?" She asked softly.

"Because I had to, I didn't want to go on pretending or lying to you about it." He replied in the same tone "Are you angry with me Lo? Do you hate me, want to hit me..."

"I want to hit you a lot of times, so this is nothing special." She gave a tiny smile and exhaled deeply "I'm not angry with you Clark and I don't hate you, I just feel tired."

"Why?"

She shrugged uneasily. How could she tell him the reason she'd run out of the house earlier was because she'd been scared. Not only because he knew but because knowing that he did made her face her love for him and consequently her fear of losing him because of it? How could she tell him that she'd been down this road with past boyfriends who'd been so understanding at first then less so as time went on until finally deciding they hated it? And how could she tell him it had been easier thinking that she didn't love him because acknowledging that she did, meant that she was going to spend her days hoping he'd be different until he no longer was?

Clark had told her he was an alien and although it lifted her anxieties it didn't magically make them disappear. That was stuff of fairytales but this was real life and real life quite often sucked.

She'd known, in her heart she'd known for weeks that she loved Clark Kent but she hadn't wanted to face it. What the god's don't know, they can't take away and what wasn't acknowledged was hers to keep.

"How did it happen Lois?" He asked simply.

At his question she sighed and tugged her hand free "Let me just get a glass of water first. It's hot and this will take a little while; do you want one?"

"Yeah."

She returned a few minutes later and retook her seat beside him on the stairs "I told you once that when I left Smallville years ago that I wasn't going to be gone for long. Well that was a lie. I left and didn't know when or if I'd ever come back. As you know it took 15 years to do so."

She sipped at the water and turned to look at him "I don't know if you'd remember this because you had a lot on your mind at the time but on the day that Lana faked her death, I was pretty badly hurt. Actually I died or almost died from a knife wound but Chloe found me. The next thing I knew she was almost dead and I was ok."

Clark nodded in recollection of that time. Yes, as she'd pointed out Lana had been on his mind but she'd been pushed aside when he thought that he was going to lose Chloe that day as well. It was only after the dust settled that he'd had time to think about Lana again.

Seeing the nod Lois, nodded in return "Well a couple of days later I was at home and I must have drifted off to sleep. Anyway, I had this pretty vivid dream of a plane crash...I think it was a dream; that's how I classified it at the time but it was so real. It was more real than you are sitting next to me right now. I saw..." She paused and her brow wrinkled "Well I saw the kind of stuff you see in the movies but it was a lot more graphic." She looked at Clark, saw that he wasn't looking at her like she was crazy and felt her shoulders relax "I'd like to say when it was reported on a late news bulletin that I was shocked but I wasn't. I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know where or when. I wondered if I could have done anything to prevent it but I couldn't see how. I didn't have a date. Didn't know what airline it was since there was nothing left of plane to distinguish it and I didn't know if anyone would have listened given the flimsy information I did have?"

"You couldn't have done anything Lois." He reassured quietly.

She raked her hair back and nodded shortly "Yeah well I tried to forget about it but it wasn't easy and then it happened again a couple of days later. I was at work at the Inquisitor and just zoned out. I don't think it was for long but it was long enough for me to see a pile up on a highway. I thought it was weird but since I'd convinced myself that I must have heard about the plane accident either on an earlier broadcast or on the radio driving home from work, I was able to write it off as one of those things. So this new one was didn't throw me, I just used the same reasoning only this time being at work made it easier to believe. I was concerned enough that I checked all the news stations that night and looked on the internet but not finding anything I figured it was all good and went to bed to sleep like a baby." Her lips twisted sarcastically "The next morning I was getting ready for work and couldn't fool myself anymore, when I saw the accident being reported as the lead story on the morning news."

Taking a big gulp of water she recalled the way she'd collapsed on the couch when she saw the broadcast. She ended by calling in sick to work and that's exactly how she'd been feeling sick, shaky and scared.

"What happened after that?" He nudged gently.

"Well like everyone else I'd heard all about people who'd had an NDE..."

"NDE?" Clark queried with a slight frown.

"Sorry I'm used to saying that, it means near..."

He held up one hand "Near death experience, of course."

"Yeah." She inclined her head "Anyway, so I'd heard of people who'd had an NDE and later claimed they'd psychic visions but I'd never believed it, so didn't believe it could be happening to me. Writing the first one off as a fluke was fairly easy but continuing to pretend it wasn't happening isn't in my nature. I prefer to confront a situation and deal with it rather than burying my head in the sand, so I decided to treat it like any story that I'd write for the Inquisitor and investigate the phenomena. I spent the day at the Smallville Library researching everything I could get my hands on regarding the subject and only left when it was closing and they kicked me out." She smiled with a small touch of humour "What I learned and I don't know if I believe this part or not, is that apparently we all possess a certain amount of psychic ability but as we move from childhood and get caught up with life and the material world, we lose touch with that part of ourselves. However, and this is where I think it applies to me, it can be triggered into becoming active by something fairly significant like an NDE for example. It's not restricted to that but some people who go through it do tend to become more aware and have flashes of psychic energy because their third eye has been jump started by the experience so they can see the shape of things to come. Well this appeared to be my new…talent or as the poet Wordsworth put it, 'the flash upon the inward eye', which actually makes sense because that's what it's like; seeing a flash.

She took a sip of her water to wet her throat and continued "So I had all this information, an overabundance of it actually but it didn't help me to deal with it especially considering that I couldn't control it, couldn't stop it and just had to learn to live with it. Maybe it'd stop as abruptly as it had started but since it happened twice more before the week was out, I couldn't count on that and I was scared. I just wanted control of my life again. I wanted it to go away..." She looked at him and her eyes became huge "...and then I would have given anything to have it back."

"Why?"

"Because the next time it happened I didn't see some awful disaster with people I didn't know, it was the kids who lived right here in Smallville." She laughed without humour "I didn't know them personally but I'd seen them around town and the fact that it was here well…" Raking a hand through her hair she remembered how horrified she'd felt when the flash appeared in full blown in her head "Well I drove out to the site hoping I'd get there in time but I was too late. So I just called for assistance, tried to keep them calm while waiting for help to arrive and left after bullshitting to the police how I found them."

Clark frowned in thought "When was this Lo; who was involved?"

"This was the day before I left Smallville but as to who they were..." She shrugged and reiterated "I didn't know them personally. There were 4 kids altogether; two of them were already dead by the time I got there and from what I overheard in the Talon the next day, the other two were sent to Metropolis General but the prognosis for their recovery wasn't very hopeful."

His mind dredged back trying to fit her description with accidents that he would have heard off since news of that would have spread like wildfire. His brow wrinkled before smoothing out "A third kid did die a few days later but the fourth survived. Have you met Tracey McCloud?"

"Yeah, she works in Tina's beauty salon doesn't she?" Lois questioned thoughtfully.

He bobbed his head "She was the fourth. From memory I think she had two broken legs and a couple of broken ribs which wasn't bad all things considered. However, if you hadn't gotten them help so quickly, who knows if she would have made it at all."

"I'm just glad that she did." Feeling more light-hearted since hearing there'd been a survivor to an episode that had felt so personal many years ago, she grinned "Anyway, that episode shook me more than a little and I wanted to get out of freaksville. I didn't want to stay in a town where people were affected by meteor rock left, right and centre..."

"Kryptonite." Clark tossed in.

Her brow wrinkled inquisitively "Excuse me?"

"What used to be called meteor rock is now called Kryptonite; I'll explain it all later." He promised and urged her to continue.

"Ok, so I wanted to get out of Dodge and fast. The last place I wanted to be was here in freak central having the visions. The last one actually made me wonder if that's what was going on. If I had somehow been affected by Kryptonite, yet I couldn't see how that was possible since I was never exposed to the stuff enough for that to happen."

She paused when he blurted out "Chloe" then looked at her guiltily.

"What?"

"When Chloe found you Lo, you were all but dead." He told her softly "She had a meteor ability to heal people with her tears. She knew that she was affected but she didn't know how until she saved you. However, she did die in the hospital Lois. I know we let you believe that you'd been misinformed but you weren't. However, the fact that Chloe died saving you, means that you would have died if she hadn't found and healed you. She didn't want to talk about it at first because I think she was on overload of both good and bad feelings. One the one hand she was really happy that you were safe but on the other, waking up in a morgue drawer, was I think quite frightening for her."

Lois shuddered at the thought of ever finding herself in that situation and hoped her cousin had never had nightmares about it "god!"

Seeing the horror on her face, Clark rubbed her back "She was ok Lo, I wouldn't be surprised if she had nightmares but I don't remember her mentioning any. She told me everything that happened when she felt capable of talking about it, which was either just before or just after you left. So given what she said then and what you're revealing now, the upside is that you lived but the downside is that you must have been affected by her to some extent because her tear fell right here." He rubbed the spot gently between her eyes with his forefinger.

"Well from what I've learnt on the subject and believe me there's not much I don't know about it now, I think the visions were triggered by my NDE. I don't have any doubts about that at all. So at most maybe and this is only maybe, if I got anything from Chloe then all it did was narrow the internal eye so my visions which were initially about people somewhere in the world, tapered to concentrate on those who were in my immediate vicinity." She shrugged uncaring "I'm not going to waste time worrying about it at this late date but that's what I think anyway."

He nodded but wished they had told Lois the truth years ago and felt his conscience burn when she murmured softly "I just wish that Chloe had told me about her herself. It would have been nice to not feel so alone."

"You didn't tell her about the flashes you were getting." He reminded her carefully.

"No, firstly I knew that she'd run and tell you." She smiled faintly to take out the sting out of her words but wasn't going to apologise for speaking what she knew to be true "Secondly, I knew the two of you would get on my back about it and I didn't want to discuss it." He smiled back in understanding knowing that she was right "And thirdly, I still loved Chloe but we'd grown apart and I can't honestly say that I trusted her at that point anymore than she trusted me."

At his frown, Lois tapped his arm "She didn't tell me that she was affected by the meteors, plus she'd become secretive. I understood her need for privacy because I'm that way myself but Chloe had given me the run around a few times and had also been more than a little condescending towards me and my job at the Inquisitor. I'd managed to ignore it without retaliating even though I'd been sorely tempted on more than one occasion but I wouldn't have taken any crap about this. Not from anyone. Not even from Chloe; not for one minute." She finished emphatically.

He heard the steel in her voice and knew she was speaking the truth "We wouldn't have done that to you Lois."

"Maybe, maybe not; it's a moot point now but we weren't close enough to share confidences years ago and you have to agree with me on that at least."

This time he heard the disbelief and wished that he could refute her charge but felt unable to do so. Sighing deeply Clark nodded "No we weren't and although we would have helped you Lo, you're right to doubt that Chloe and I wouldn't have teased you a little. At the very least we probably would have expected you to prove it and we would have been sceptical before you were able to do that."

"Yeah."

Leaning over her pressed a kiss to her brow in apology.

"But…" She looked at him and smiled sweetly "Take my word for it; neither of you would have teased me for longer than 10 seconds."

"I never realised until now how attractive a vicious women can be." He chuckled lightly and stroked one finger down her cheek "But Lo, it wasn't a lack of trust that kept Chloe silent with you about her ability. When she found out that she was meteor infected she was horrified, scared and possibly a little ashamed because she'd spent years investigating people with abilities and now she was one of them." He picked up her hand and held it "It gave her a better understanding of them and some empathy as well. Before that she was just curious and wanted to find them, possibly expose them or use them as fodder to write about. However, being affected made her see the situation from the opposite side of the fence and threw new light on a situation that she'd never taken the time to explore prior."

Knowing he was trying to play devil's advocate and loving him all the more for it, Lois patted his arm in reassurance "I understand where she's coming from and I'm not angry with Chloe; after all she saved my life. I just wish that I'd known because I might have felt comfortable opening up to her." He nodded in understanding "So um..." She took a minute to gather her thoughts "Ok, so about 3 weeks had passed from the time I had the first vision to the last which was the ones about the kids in Smallville and my instinct was to get out of here fast. I didn't want to see bad things happening to the people I saw around town when I couldn't do anything to prevent it and I was terrified of getting one about people I was close to so I packed up and left hoping they'd stop once I was away from here. Instead the next time it happened it was about me." She rolled her eyes at that "Now I was really in trouble since I couldn't very well run away from myself."

"You saw yourself having an accident?"

"No, I just saw myself having a cup of coffee and running into an ex-boyfriend so I didn't think it was all that significant. But when I kept getting the same one for about a week I have to admit that I felt slightly wary, especially since the shop I saw wasn't far from where I was staying. However, being that I was in LA and that city is overflowing with people, I figured the odds of running into the ex were pretty low but…." She smiled sheepishly "I still took the precaution of giving the shop a wide berth because the last thing I wanted to do was run into that shit head. Apart from that though, I was just grateful to have a reprieve from the yucky visions..."

"The yucky visions?" He interrupted amused and felt glad when her expression lightened.

Appreciating that he wasn't mocking her, just trying to make the telling easier by gently teasing, Lois stuck out her tongue in retaliation.

"Shut up! So to get to the point, I did end up at the coffee shop due to circumstances beyond my control and guess who I ran into?"

"The shit head?" Clark asked solemnly.

"The shit head." She confirmed with a groan "If that was how the visions were going to stay I would have left well enough alone but of course they didn't. I've since learnt that when I have them about me I can try turning myself into a pretzel in a bid to avoid them but they'll always bite me in the butt and come to pass."

"Always?"

"Always!" She returned firmly.

"Have you had any about me...or you and me?"

Her lashes fluttered in betrayal.

Grinning hugely he pointed and remarked gleefully "You have; and they're sexy."

Lois laughed and slapped his arm.

"You've been having sex visions about me." Clark licked his lips slowly in anticipation "I want to hear all the details; every tiny little bit; don't leave out a thing."

"No."

He clasped her hand and told her soulfully "But I want to be here for you Lo, and I can't be unless you trust me enough to give me details."

"I'm going to give you a thick ear in a minute..." She growled amused and figured the best way to shut him up was to give him a little bit of information "You don't need the details because we've already had the sex."

"Which time was it? Was it more than once?" When her mouth opened, he held up a hand "Let me just go get a pad and paper so I can write them down. Or even better, you describe them and I'll draw pictures."

Pressing a hand against his mouth she asked patiently "Do you want to hear the rest of this or not?"

He nodded and when her hand was removed, reassured sincerely "Of course I do." Before she could speak he quickly tacked on "But I still want full disclosure later."

Lifting her eyes to the heavens Lois drained her glass and set it down "Ok, well unfortunately I did still get the yucky visions and I wanted them gone. If I could help people it wouldn't have been so bad but there is nothing worse than seeing what's going to happen and feeling helpless because you can't get there in time to stop it; and that's the god's honest truth."

Clark nodded in understanding and thanked god he did have the ability to prevent catastrophe from happening. He imagined that seeing things but having no way to stop it would slowly drive a person crazy.

"Did you only get visions of people dying Lo?"

"No, it doesn't really work that way." She scratched her head thoughtfully "It's hard to explain but I see what could happen, not what will happen; do you see the difference?" He nodded "So most of the time all I see are people being injured but it was still disheartening not getting the warning quickly enough to stop them from being hurt all together. Plus the visions were coming more frequently as well."

"How long had you been gone from Smallville by this time?"

She frowned trying to recall back "To be honest the days all seemed to blend one into another but I think maybe 3 or 4 months."

"You said that if the visions had stayed about you, that you would have left well enough alone; did you do something Lois?"

"Yeah, I was pretty strung out by this time. I was only getting minimal sleep because I was forcing myself to stay awake in case I need to run out the door to help someone and during the day I was taking something to keep myself awake while I worked. I'd gone back to waitressing but lost two jobs due to inefficiency from tiredness so was making ends meet with the little money I'd managed to save by living with only the basic necessities." Her mouth pulled down "You should have seen the place I was staying at; a hovel would have been a palace in comparison. Anyway, it got to the stage where I just couldn't do it anymore and knew that I needed help, so I called my dad." She smiled in remembrance "As you know he's in the army and being a general he's got a lot of contacts at his fingertips. Let me tell you the military has a plethora of really smart people on the payroll. People like doctors and scientists and specialists who spend all day every day doing tests and experiments looking for any kind of strategic military advantage."

Clark had a feeling he knew what was coming and seeing the expression on his face Lois nodded "Yep, I told my dad what was going on and asked him for help, I just didn't tell him it was for me. At first he was a bit cagey because naturally he can't talk about what goes on but once I convinced him it was true, he was all, 'oh hey, the military's got a whole section or ten of top secret hush hush things going on and it sounds like this person would fit right in.' Then I told him it was me and he was all 'no one's using my little girl or her brain as a test subject for anything'." She laughed out loud "He was great, he really was."

"What happened?"

"Well you know the kind of stuff you see in science fiction where scientists in secret laboratories are doing tests for all sorts of breakthrough discoveries to achieve whatever the hell goal. All the stuff you hear about enhancing people's psychic abilities or getting people to develop them. Tapping into the human brain to see what makes it tick, then looking for ways to augment it and the human body to make people smarter, faster, stronger, better all that kind of thing?" Clark nodded, she inclined her head "All of that's true and if you ever tell anyone I said so, I'll categorically deny it."

He grinned, she grinned back "Well the downside is that the military doesn't have a holistic approach and the scientists who are into this stuff are too fascinated to see if something can be done they don't stop to wonder if it should be done, or consider the downside to having these…gifts. That's their word, mine is curse." She added as an aside "So basically you've got the group with the funding and the group with the brains working together to achieve the impossible but they only spend time looking at the after effects to try and mitigate any problems down the line. They don't spend time or money investigating ways to reverse or stop it because that's not part of the agenda, cultivating it to their advantage is."

He nodded in understanding.

She paused to take a breath before continuing "I wanted the visions to stop but they couldn't give me any guarantees that what they tried would work. Daddy wanted me to wait until they could give me better odds but the military isn't in the business of spending time and money on my problem and we both knew that. So I told him I wanted to take the chance and he gave the go ahead for them to try. I won't go into all the specifics but let's just say they tried several ways without success and they weren't much fun for me." She sighed heavily in indecision "I think subconsciously I was counting on the Lane blessing to pull me through as it had from many a close scrape in the past; most days I think it did work in my favour but there are occasional ones when I'm not sure. On the one hand the visions didn't stop but they did become far less frequent and I do now get a minute or two of warning so I can act, whereas before I got none and was really just helping in the aftermath."

"But?" Clark asked and had a bad idea where this was going.

"But the intention was for my mind to be closed off from getting any dreams, flashes or premonitions altogether and instead the flood gates were opened and my mind was assailed from all sides."

"That's how you can..."

"Yes." Lois inclined her head fractionally.

"How'd your dad take it?"

She rubbed her arm absently "I was heavily medicated so wasn't aware of much going on around me but I remember that he was furious. He was barking orders left, right and centre for someone to fix it, to make it better in between telling me it was going to be alright." Her lips trembled in recollection and she didn't notice the tears sliding down her cheeks as her mind rushed back to that awful time "They couldn't fix it, couldn't reverse it and in the end all they could do was offer me a choice. Either I lived the rest of my life like a hermit without any human contact, or they taught me to cope with it so that I could live as normal a life as possible." She took a quivering breath and told him her deepest fear "I was just grateful they weren't going to put me into an insane asylum. I was so scared; I don't know if I was more frightened of going mad or waking up to find myself in a padded room. Getting the visions, losing control of my life was horrible and this was so much worse but daddy and Lucy were fantastic." She looked at Clark and although she could taste the salt of tears on her lips, she didn't bother wiping them away "He called her and she came straight away. She came and wouldn't leave my side. She even slept with me." Lois let out a watery laugh in recollection.

"Then one day I woke up and everything was so quiet. The only voices I could hear were daddy and Lucy. They'd taken me to a cabin in the mountains and it was the most beautiful place I'd ever been. It could have been ugly as sin and it would have been heaven to me." She smiled at Clark through her tears "They were both so wonderful. As awful as that time was, I learned how much they loved me and how much I loved them too."

"How long did you stay there?"

"A long time." She answered after a small pause "Daddy got called back to work about a month later but he kept in touch whenever he could. Lucy stayed at the cabin with me until it was time to leave and that was an education in itself but eventually it all worked out and here I am."

Clark wiped his thumbs over her cheeks and pulled her into a tight hug "I wish that I'd known Lo. I wish that I could have been there for you."

"No you don't, believe me." She stated definitively "I was an emotional wreck who was no good for anything."

He pressed his lips to the top of her head "I wouldn't have wanted anything but to be there for you."

She sniffed and wiped her nose on the shoulder of his t-shirt, then laughed when he made a face "Sorry but my nose is running."

"Why didn't you use your t-shirt?"

"Eww, because it's yucky."

Chuckling at her reasoning, he nipped inside to grab a box of tissues and barely gave her time to blow her nose before pulling her into another hug, sighing happily when her arms slipped around his waist and she hugged him in return.

Leaning back after a minute Lois, cocked her head inquisitively "Now it's your turn, what's all this about being an alien?"

He grinned and cupping her face in his hands looked into her eyes "You can read my mind and find out."

"I don't read people Clark, honestly I don't." She reassured earnestly.

"I never thought you did Lo, I was just teasing."

Hearing the sincerity in his voice she relaxed and retorted primly "Besides, I don't want to taint my mind with yours because I'm sure it's full of filth."

"It is." He winked and told her all about himself. When he was done, he titled his head down "So what'd you think?"

"We're both weirdoes."

"Yeah." He agreed with a big smile "So I have a question..."

"I'm not going to tell you about my sex visions." She interrupted sternly.

He pouted but figured he'd get them out of her sooner or later "It's not that smart ass; I'm just curious..." At her lifted brows, he asked "Did you save Peter and help Irma because you had a vision about them?"

"Mmm." She grinned and poked him in the chest "...and now I know it was you who saved me from being hit by Steve's truck."

"Uh huh."

"So you're the mysterious blob that people refer to."

"They don't call me the blob; they call me the mysterious stranger." He corrected swiftly before lowering his brows and telling her in a seductive voice "The mysterious stranger; I think it sounds kind of sexy."

"I think it sounds kind of pervy." She replied straight faced.

He shot her a disgruntled look and muttered under his breath.

Ignoring that she asked nosily "So how come you're not in the JLA?"

His forehead wrinkled in deliberation "I'm not sure if I want to be. I like helping out whenever they need it but I prefer going it solo to being a team player."

"I could be wrong but it seems to me that you've already made the choice, you just haven't made it official as yet." At his raised brows, she held out a hand and explained "Well they all have a home city they're well known to inhabit and also work together when the need arises correct?" At his nod she inclined her head in return "Right so as the mysterious stranger is mostly seen streaking around…."

"Don't say streaking." He interrupted with a scowl.

Her lips twitched "Sorry, how about whizzing?"

His brows lowered menacingly.

"Whooshing?" She offered tentatively

At his nod, she inclined her head "Ok, so you're mostly seen whooshing through Smallville and Metropolis, the only difference between you and the official members of the JLA is that unlike them, you don't have a call sign and aren't in the public arena that's all."

"Hmm." Clark nodded thoughtfully.

"You also don't have a costume." She threw in as an afterthought.

He flicked his eyes in her direction and admitted grudgingly "Yes I do."

Lois perked up interested "You do?"

"Yeah, mom made it for me."

"I haven't heard anything about a costume…." Her brow wrinkled but when his mouth opened she waved him down "…I get it; since no ones actually seen you, they haven't seen the outfit and that's why no one's commented on it."

"Wrong!" This time when her mouth opened, he waved her down "Even if someone just happened to see me, they wouldn't have seen a costume since I don't wear one."

"But you just said your mom made you one."

"She did."

"Then why don't you wear it?" She growled exasperated.

"Because it's fugly." He stated bluntly.

Lois burst out laughing "I doubt your mom would make you anything fugly."

"You don't know that woman." Clark grunted in distrust "I think she did it to pay me back for all the years that I whinged in her ear about everything."

"Stop it, and give me a look."

He groaned but zipped inside to retrieve it and was back a moment later tossing it in her lap.

Lois held it up and her nose wrinkled. She had to admit it wasn't appealing but given that some dresses looked plain on the hanger but fabulous when worn, she was likewise willing to give the costume the benefit of the doubt for now.

She handed it back "Put it on."

"No!" Clark stated flatly.

"I want to see what it looks like."

"You can see what it looks like." He pointed and grimaced.

"I can see what it looks like now but when you have it on it may look good." She informed him patiently.

"It doesn't."

"Just give me a look."

Knowing that she'd keep badgering him until he gave in, Clark muttered under his breath and getting to his feet swiftly disrobed before taking the suit from her outstretched hand and pulling it on.

"Stand over there?" She pointed then waved until he obediently moved to stand in front of her at the base of the stairs.

Oh my!

He looked...wow he looked good.

"You said that you've got a cape?" She croaked out huskily.

Clark nodded silently.

"I want to see the whole affect."

Sighing hugely, he zipped inside the house and returned momentarily to stand in front her with the cape attached.

Ohhhh my!

He looked, he looked...the only word she could think of to describe him was...Thrrrrrr!

Leaning one elbow on her knee she cupped her chin in her hand and stared at him completely entranced then twirled a finger in anticipation of seeing the rear view.

"Forget it; I'm not giving you a fashion parade." Clark crossed his arms and glowered.

OH MY GOD!

Feeling her lust level hitting an all new high at his posture and attitude, she licked her lips and seriously considered throwing herself at his feet begging shamelessly for him to wear it to bed.

Feeling utterly ridiculous and having more than enough of being stared at, he swiftly changed before racing inside and placing the suit back in the box stored in the attic before returning.

Pushing aside disappointment but figuring that she'd somehow get him into the suit again even if she had to sacrifice a virgin to do it; Lois decided to focus on the now "Ok so you have a whole host of powers correct?" At his nod, she pointed "Go and pick up my car."

"Do I have to?" He whined in protest.

"Yes, I wanna see you do it."

With a huge put upon groan he got up and walked down the stairs but spotting Attila scampering from the barn, pointed "How about I pick up the dust-ball instead."

"Even I can pick him up." She sneered and joining him, held out her arms to the dog who happily jumped into them.

Taking a few steps toward the vehicle, Clark looked over at Lois and coughed loudly to gain her attention then struck a pose while flexing his arms. Waving modestly at her responding gurgle, he did a quick sweep with his vision to ensure that no would be passing motorist could accidentally see him and finding all was safe, lifted the car over his head.

Grinning she set the dog down to clap before strolling over to him "Ok, now you said you can fly really fast right?"

He looked at her suspiciously "Yeah, why?

"Because I want you to go somewhere, like say...oh I don't care but you have to buy me something and I want the receipt as proof." She informed him cheerfully.

"Proof."

"Yep."

"I'll be back in a minute." He grumbled and zoomed off.

Lois nodded looked at her watch, tapped her fingers as the minute hand ticked over and looked down at the dog "He's not very fast, is he boy?"

Attila ruffed in reply.

After obediently throwing the ball the dog dropped at her feet she took a seat on the stairs, tapped her fingers on her knees, threw the ball again then looked at her watch. At Clark's reappearance she accused loudly "I thought you were supposed to be fast."

"I am fast." He retorted and tossed a bag in her lap "But first I had to figure out what to get you, then I had to change some money and it doesn't matter how fast I am, the sales people can only move at normal speed. Plus, since you wanted a receipt I had to stand in line and wait to be served."

"No excuses accepted. You took a good 8 minutes and that's slow in my book." She returned cheekily. Ignoring his snort, she reached inside the bag and laughed when she pulled out the mouse ears he'd bought her; specifically Minnie Mouse as the red polka-dot bow attested then smiled greedily upon spying the fancy box of chocolates with the Harrods name embossed on the cover.

"Where'd you get the mouse ears?"

"Where do you think?" He asked in a smart-alecky tone.

Her brows rose in surprise "You went to Disney Land?"

"Uh huh; and it's a good thing I don't have to pay to get in because they would have been the most expensive ears anyone's ever bought." He retorted swiftly.

"'You snuck in?"

"I flew in and since I only wanted to buy the ears I didn't want to pay the admission price to do so." He corrected and defended all at once.

"Why'd you pick there?"

"Because I figured with all the available attractions people either wouldn't notice me at all, or they'd just put a flying streak down to being something going on at Disney Land itself. Unfortunately my little trip was wasted since I didn't get a receipt." He scowled and pointed at her accusingly "Since you stipulated that as a requirement I had to go somewhere else. So I picked Harrods in London, figuring everyone's heard of that store, which would hopefully keep you satisfied and out of my hair."

"You went to all that trouble for a receipt." Lois asked incredibly touched.

"You told me too." He accused darkly.

"Well yeah but if I were you I would have told me to get stuffed." She smiled and popped the ears on her head "How do I look?"

His lips twitched "Cute."

Grinning in return she looked at the box of chocolates and licked her lips. She wanted to have one but the box looked too fancy and pretty to open. Debating she looked up when Clark asked pointedly "Are you happy now? You don't want me to perform some other feat?"

"What if I said yes?"

"I'd say get stuffed." He retorted and took a seat beside her on the stairs. Plucking the box from her hand, he ignored her squeaky bleat, ripped off the lid then helped himself to a chocolate.

Figuring that she'd better have one before he scoffed the lot, Lois plucked out a truffle, bit in and closed her eyes in bliss.

"Lo."

"Hmm?"

"You said that when you left that you weren't sure if you'd ever come back to Smallville; why did you?"

Swallowing down the truffle she picked up his glass and took a sip of water "I don't know, I'd planned to rent a cottage at Myrtle Beach and spend the summer there but changed my mind. It wasn't at the last minute but close. Maybe subconsciously I needed to come back as a way to test myself. I'd run from this town because I was scared and as things got worse that first year I swore that I'd never step foot here again. Whatever the reason for my change of mind I think returning to Smallville was a cathartic experience for me, because any negative feelings I had in connection with it are all gone."

"Did you have negative feelings?"

"Not consciously. To be honest I pretty much forgot about Smallville altogether but on the drive here I had a lot of time to think and wondered if I was making a mistake coming back." She grinned when Attila hopped into her lap and snuggled down "But just finding this little beast was all worth it."

"He is a beast." Clark confirmed readily and tilting up her chin added softly "I'm really glad you came back babe."

"I am too."

"How many people know about you?"

"Only you, daddy and Lucy know the whole story. My friends Carol and Anne know everything except for the part that has to do with the military. That's all top-secret so I couldn't tell them the truth about that much as I wanted to and a couple of ex-boyfriends know but I just told them I've always been this way."

Clark felt a tiny glow at the knowledge that he was one of only 3 people who knew everything "Why'd you tell me all of it."

"I don't know." She frowned minutely "I could have made up something but…I don't know."

Feeling chuffed at that and taking it as a good sign he stroked a hand down her hair "Can I ask you something?"

She grunted amused "You haven't stopped asking me things."

"Well I'm used to being the one who's grilled, so it feels good to be the one doing the grilling for a change."

Hearing his whine she giggled "Go ahead."

"You said earlier that you and Chloe had grown apart and that you didn't really trust her anymore; is that why you didn't keep in contact with her after you left?" He asked gently.

Her smiled dimmed "I tried but it was useless. I know Chloe cared when she thought I was dead but that's different to wanting someone around when they're alive. When I called her after I left, our conversations were…well they were formal and difficult."

"What'd you mean?" Clark replied thoughtfully.

She shrugged offhand "Whatever subject I introduced seemed to be off limits. If I asked Chloe about her work at the Planet, she wasn't very forthcoming with details and changed the subject fairly quickly. Given her prior attitude about my job at the Inquisitor, it wasn't hard to figure out she resented me for taking up Journalism. When I asked how her relationship with Jimmy was going she made one or two remarks and that was it. She asked me a couple off-hand questions about what I was doing but there wasn't much interest really and I could tell."

She looked at him and pointedly rolled her eyes "I hate to say it but mostly all I heard about was you. How upset you were that Lana was dead. How happy you were that she was alive. How the two of you were doing really great; how you weren't so great and Lana was making you miserable. How this, how that, blah blah blah. Honestly I'd had a gutful of the Clark and Lana bullshit hour while I lived here. So given what I was dealing with through no choice of my own, I wasn't inclined to listen to the manufactured problems the two of you were keeping everyone entertained with."

"Well I don't blame you for not wanting to hear any of that rubbish." He grimaced in sympathy.

"Yeah, I think Chloe's fascination with you tried my patience more than her snarky remarks about my job." She admitted truthfully "After I left it was her that I wanted to hear about not you but that seemed to be a closed subject to me. What really hurt was back then I was closer to Chloe than I was Lucy. I loved my sister but she'd just been one headache after another for as long as I could remember, whereas Chloe was more like my best friend than my little cousin. I thought moving to Smallville would make us even closer but instead things got worse the longer I stayed." Remembering how bleak she'd felt all those years ago, Lois shrugged listlessly "The crazier my life became the more determined I was to hold tight to Chloe but eventually I had to accept that she didn't want me around anymore. Holding on was just making her resentful and trying to pretend nothing had changed for me was foolish. So I let her go for both our sakes."

"She's missed you Lois." Clark told her softly.

"You haven't told her that I'm here."

"No, Chloe and I get together for dinner about 3 times a year and I talk to her on the phone once in a blue moon but that's it. She's busy with her job at the Planet and I'm busy with the farm. We're still friends, we just don't live in each other's back pockets anymore..." He titled up her chin and captured her eyes with his "...but I know that she misses you."

Her lips quivered in betrayal "How?"

"Because she still mentions you." He answered simply "Not every time I see or talk to her but often enough for me to know that. She knows it's her fault a rift grew between you and she knows you stopped calling her because she pushed you away. She's missed you a lot Lois."

"More than likely she's remembering me the way I used to be Clark, but I've changed a lot and she might be disappointed."

"She won't be."

"Maybe I'll give her a call one day but not right now." Lois conceded hesitantly.

"Ok." He hesitated for a beat before asking "Are you still going to move back into the Murphy place?"

She didn't know how to answer that. She didn't want to leave but he hadn't posed the question in a way that gave her any insight into his feelings on the matter now that everything was out in the open. Actually she was wrong; everything wasn't out in the open. He still didn't know that she loved him and she didn't know how he felt about her. She wasn't a dummy, she knew that he cared about her but caring didn't equal love and that's what she wanted from him. She wasn't interested in being his friend unless love came as part of the package. She was greedy. She wanted it all; love, friendship and commitment. If she couldn't have it all, then she'd rather have nothing because half a loaf wasn't better than none.

Well if she wanted him for life and she did then it was time to do something about it. She couldn't make him fall in love with her but she could certainly try. However, she needed help on that since she wasn't exactly a femme fatal. Hmm, well the public library would be her best bet. She could borrow some magazines with tips on how to beguile and bewitch a man, plus she could fire up her lap top and search the internet. She couldn't do any of that with Clark around, he'd see and she'd die.

Feeling happy that she had a plan, Lois nodded vigorously "Yeah, I think I will move back because I just think it's best and..." Rambling on she gave him a long meandering explanation that became tangled beyond repair, and finished with "So yeah...um huh, hmmm."

oOo

Clark listened with half an ear while his mind ticked over.

Their relationship had begun with sex and although it had grown from that, he wasn't satisfied. He wanted to give Lois romance. He wanted to shower her in it. Yeah ok, so he wasn't even doing this ass backwards. Their relationship was all over the map but who cared.

The guys said he'd know when the moment was right to tell Lois that he loved her, well forget telling. He was going to show her and in the process get her to fall in love with him…then she'd say it first.

Clark Kent was going courting.

And gentleman going courting did not grope their lady love, they wooed them. So he was going to keep his hands to himself and off her body.

No more sex!

Kissing was allowed.

If she stayed at the farm his resolution would crash and burn the first time she wore one of her sexy nighties, so it was a good thing that leaving was her idea and he didn't have to shove her out. However, one second after she said that she loved him, he'd have her naked and under him. Then he'd tell her that she was marrying him but until then he was going to woo her.

Almost humming in anticipation he smiled and shook his head "Nah, I think you were right before."

"I was?" Lois asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, since you had to take the place for the whole summer that means you're paying for it whether you stay there or nor, so you should get your money's worth." Hooking an arm around her waist he led her towards the car "Besides it's not like we won't see each other every day."

"So you'll be round for dinner tonight?"

"Yep."

Taking a quick look at her watch Lois noted the time and calculated. If she left now she'd have time to get some magazines from the library and absorb their knowledge, maybe even practice in front of the mirror. Then when Clark came round tonight, she'd be ready for him. Beaming a smile at him she waved at her car "I have to go. It's almost 2 o'clock and I've got heaps of stuff to do. Would you mind keeping Attila with you for the afternoon and bringing him when you come over tonight?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, I've got quite a bit of stuff in the car and with him underfoot it'll take me much longer just to get it all unloaded. Plus, I still have to go and do some grocery shopping and do a bit of cleaning around the house, so with him out of my hair I'll be finished quicker."

"Forget unloading the car, I'll follow you back and do that. It will only take me a minute then you can go do the shopping and everything else you need to and I'll bring Attila back with me tonight."

At his offer she leant up and pressed her lips to his cheek "You'd be awfully handy around the house."

"Hmm, I never thought about it like that." Clark murmured while his mind yelled; 'Hah, she's already feeling sweet towards me and I haven't done anything except offer to unload her car'.

Giving her a toothy smile he offered extravagantly "I'll also clean the house while you go and do the shopping..." When her mouth opened he held up a hand and reminded her modestly "Baby, I'll be finished before you've even arrived at the shops. Let me just grab a quick shower because I don't want to dirty up your stuff when I unload the car."

"Ok, then I'll get going..."

Zipping inside the house he was back two seconds later, freshly showered and changed, dangling his car keys in front of her face "Ready whenever you are."

"...and see you at the house." Lois finished gaping at him "You've already had a shower?"

"Uh huh."

"You'd be really, really handy."

Smiling gaily he scooped up the dog and headed towards his truck while preening like a loon. Lois was going to be saying those three magic words to him before the week was out.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello

Firstly, thank you for the feedback on the last chapter. It was a really tough one to write so I'm glad people enjoyed it.

Here is the next one and as usual; it's long. So please get comfortable before diving in.

Linda

oOo

**25 August –**Approx: 11am

Lois leant against the back door and looked at Attila who was fast asleep, curled up protectively around the large ham bone she'd given him the day before. The giant stuffed squeaky flea was still the dog's favourite toy but it appeared that bones had replaced it as his number one sleeping companion.

She wished that she could play and afterwards curl up with her favourite person but lately he didn't seem to be in the mood to be with her in any capacity. Raking a hand through her hair she sighed in discouragement and wondered if it was time to throw in the towel and admit defeat.

She'd read so much information on how to win the man of her dreams that the advice had all blurred together into a jumbled confusion but she'd remembered enough points to go on with and then made up her own rules as she went along. However, it seemed that the harder she tried, the more he pulled away and became insensitive into the bargain. Not that she'd given up, she'd simply thrown herself even more heartily in trying to win his affection without success.

She ensured to always look her best when he came over. Gone were the days when he found her in scruffy shorts and t-shirts. Now she dressed like a fashion plate even while lounging around the house, on the off chance he'd stop by unexpectedly.

She listened attentively when he talked and encouraged him to talk more, with the result that she now knew more than she cared to, about stuff that she'd never given a rats about in the first place.

When he said something that she assumed he thought was funny or brilliant, she inwardly groaned but outwardly laughed playfully and tapped him on the arm in a flirty manner.

She'd stopped nagging and now only showed him a sunny disposition so he didn't think she was a battle-ax whose only goal in life was to badger him to death and she went out of her way to ensure he didn't feel like his freedom was threatened, no matter how unfeeling he was being. The less she thought about his call last Friday afternoon the better and just remembering it again made her want to break another glass but this time on his head; grrrr. It had taken a couple of hours for her blood pressure to initially calm down after that call, only for it to periodically spike on and off all night whenever she thought about it. However, she'd managed to maintain her dignity on the phone and present him with a smiling face when he turned up the next day with nary an apology on his lips. She'd even gritted her teeth and said nothing when he broke two more dates with little notice and if she had to keep pretending to be a dim-witted obliging woman who didn't have a fucking backbone or a working brain just one more day, she going to turn bat-shit crazy.

Either that or she was going to throw up!

She was making herself sick.

Swinging around she grabbed the phone of the hook and dialled the shop. As soon as she heard Anne's voice, she got right to the point "I'm in love with Clark."

"Lo."

"I love Clark." She repeated frantically.

Anne grinned hugely "Ok, hang on a moment while I step into the office." Miming to one of the assistants that she'd be in the back room, she hurried into the office and made herself comfortable "Ok I'm back."

"I need help."

"Help with what?"

"Clark."

"Ok."

"I'm in love with him."

"I'm happy for you Lo, I really am but you're kind of stuck on repeat sweetie. If you want my help, you're going to have to give me a clue." Anne replied soothingly.

Lois took a deep breath, took a seat at the kitchen table and nodded "Ok, well I told him everything about me and he was great..."

"You told him everything?" Anne cut in for clarification.

"Yeah and..."

"Can I ask why you told him?" She interrupted once again.

"He pretty much figured it out when I fell asleep and..."

Anne listened and her smile grew as Lois told her what happened. It made no difference that Clark had done everything he could to promote the situation. Just the fact that Lois had fallen asleep while he was there spoke volumes, since she'd never lowered her guard enough with any man to do so before telling them about herself.

When she finished Anne asked innocently "So he didn't have a problem with it?"

"No, he was really sweet about it actually and I thought...well I was so sure he liked me but now..." She trailed off miserably.

"But now what?" Anne encouraged softly.

The dam erupted and it all came pouring out.

"But now I think he's having second thoughts about it all because he's been acting really funny. I've tried everything I can to make him fall in love with me but it's not working. I was so sure he liked me but my holiday's nearly over and he seems to be giving me the bums rush to leave. I don't know if he's acting like I've got some kind of infectious disease so that I'll get the hint that he wants me gone or if I'm doing something wrong but I don't know what else to try because I've tried it all and it's not working." She finished on a wail.

Anne tapped her lips thoughtfully "Ok so let's break this down, what do you mean by saying he's acting funny?"

Lois held out one hand in appeal "He's acting really standoffish and weird. Take last Friday for example; I was supposed to spend the weekend with him at the farm but he called and told me not to come."

"Did he say why?"

"He wanted a night out with his friends."

Anne sat back and frowned "That's not an out of the way request Lo."

"No it's not; I'm all for him having a night out with his friends and spending time with them..." She replied openly before continuing in a heated voice "...but he literally called me at the last minute to cancel. It was SO last minute in fact, that I'd already packed up mine and Attila's stuff in the car to spend the weekend with him when he called, but I was still supportive Anne. I didn't say anything to make him feel bad and I kept telling him it was ok but what really, really got under my skin is that he didn't forget to call me in the first place, he just didn't bother and then he admitted as much in an attitude as if to say 'and what are you going to do about it?' And oh I felt like doing something, I felt like pushing his face in but I still didn't get on his back about it because I thought, hey he's being a pig but he's at least being an honest pig so how can I yell? However, when I asked him if he was still coming over for dinner that's when he mentioned getting together with his friends and that's when I realised THAT, was his reason for cancelling our weekend in the first place and when I called him on it, he just laughingly confessed."

"I would have stripped the hide right off him." She murmured consolingly.

"I wanted to but I'm trying to only show Clark a sunny disposition at the moment. So I pretended it was Attila who was trying my patience, not him." Lois rubbed her fingers over her brow "He's broken two more dates since then with really flimsy excuses but that's not even the worst of it."

"What else?"

"Well before we talked last Monday and I'm talking about LAST Monday not the one that's just gone, well before then he couldn't keep his hands off me. He was constantly trying to get me to sleep with him but since then, he hasn't even been interested in me sexually."

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean that he hasn't made a move on me AT ALL in 8 days." Lois whined loudly "The last time we had sex was almost two weeks ago and at first I didn't notice because he seemed to be really affectionate and the kisses...my gosh they were so deliciously long they drove me nearly crazy but when they didn't lead anywhere, I figured that maybe he just wasn't in the mood."

"Has that ever happened before?" She frowned lightly.

"No way!" Lois pronounced emphatically "Clark not being in the mood has never been an issue. More often than not, he's ready to go again while I'm still recovering from the first round but these days I'm lucky to even get a peck on the cheek when he arrives or leaves."

"You're kidding?"

"I wish!" She groaned feelingly "I'm going to be climbing the walls soon if this keeps up."

"I can see why."

"And that's why I called for help." Lois nudged broadly.

"Ok so what all have you been doing?"

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean what have you been doing to show him that he's special and you want him?" Anne asked directly.

"Oh well..." She deliberated for a moment before beginning a commentary of her efforts "I always make sure to look pretty for him but considering he doesn't even seem to notice anymore, I don't know why I bother. I've encouraged him to talk about stuff he's interested in rather than hogging the conversation and that's a chore in itself because he's not a talker. I've been accommodating and agreeable even when he's being an insensitive oaf like on Friday night for example. I've flirted with him playfully so he knows that I'm his for the taking, not that he's been taking lately and I've asked him for advice on little things to show him that I can be helpless."

At the loud grunt, her shoulders fell disheartened "I know; I'm not really the passive type who sits around waiting for assistance but I want to make Clark feel good and important, without looking desperate myself because that's something I just won't do."

"And you shouldn't because you're not."

"No I'm not but I do need him, I just don't know how to show him that."

"Have you tried telling him?"

"Anne, the man doesn't even kiss me these days. He comes over a lot less and he's cancelling dates to spend time with his friends; add all that up and what does it tell you?" She growled peeved.

"Yeah, I see sorry." Anne grimaced in reply.

"I know that he's probably trying to give me the brush off, without having to come right out and telling me to get lost but..." She broke off to take a deep calming breath "...but I love him, so I'm pretending not to see the signals he's sending."

"I'm sorry hon."

"It's not your fault; I just don't know what to do without looking pathetic." She laughed unamused "What am I saying? I probably am pathetic to keep hoping things will get better instead of leaving of just town quietly, which is likely what he wants me to do."

"You're not pathetic."

"Yes I am." She admitted haltingly "Let's face it, rather than letting go I'm reigning in on my normal assertive self and trying to be the kind of woman he might like instead."

"If Clark doesn't like you the way you are, then he's not the right man for you Lo." She interjected steadily.

Lois nodded minutely in agreement "I know that logically but I honestly feel that he is."

"Do you feel that he is because you're in love with him, so _want_ to believe it or because you really believe that he is?" When Lois began to speak, she quickly cut in "No, don't answer straight away, think about it for a minute and tell me truthfully?"

"The second." She replied after doing as instructed "Love had nothing to do with our relationship in the beginning and I'm glad about that. I've been down that road before and every time I was living in ga ga land, only to come down with a thud when the gloss wore off and I finally grasped the fact that the man I thought was perfect, could be a real shit at times. However, since I've never viewed Clark through a romantic haze, I already knew that about him and it didn't bother me since I've definitely got my own faults. So getting to know him these last few months without love rearing its ugly head and making me loopy, has given me the opportunity to see both the good and the bad in him. I know he's the right man for me, I just don't know if he's ever going to think I'm the right woman for him."

"He's liked you well enough up to now." Anne reminded her gently.

"Yeah, but that could be because he thought I was going to be gone by the end of August. However that date is now looming on the horizon and I'm still here." Lois sighed heavily "For all I know he could be thinking that turning our casual fling into a relationship, was a huge mistake on his part and is now trying to rectify that by acting indifferent and cold towards me, in an attempt to shake me off."

"So you're trying to be something that you're not, just to hold onto him."

She heard the disapproval and the concern in her friends tone "I know it's stupid and it's not his fault that I'm holding back it's mine. I just don't want to scare him away like all the others, especially now."

"Let me tell you something about the others Lo; they were all wimps." Anne announced firmly.

"They weren't wimps. They were lying, cheating bastards yeah but not wimps." She countered sullenly.

"Oh I'll agree they didn't look like it but the fact still remains they were all weak willed jellyfish who had no backbone from the very beginning. I think you saw that chink in them and got involved with them deliberately because you knew they couldn't break your heart." She returned steadily.

Lois frowned insulted "I was hurt each with each failure Anne."

"I know you were Lo but although your heart was bruised, it wasn't broken." She returned softly "Carol and I have both noticed that you seemed to throw yourself into relationships with men who wouldn't demand anything from you. However, the minute they started making noises for more, you told them about your gift. The sad part is that you seemed to deliberately pick men, who were bound to let you down once they found out what you could do."

"You make me sound awful."

"You're not awful Lo, you were just scared sweetie. One day everything was fine and then next you were bombarded with awful images, then shortly afterwards you felt flooded with thousands of voices all at once and it almost drove you insane until you learnt to control it." Anne reminded her gently "Since you think of your gift as a curse, you likewise figured that no man could ever love you because of it. I think deep down you were afraid of one day meeting a man that you could love with all your heart, only to have him walk away because he couldn't handle your gift..."

Lois shook her head and cut in "That's not true I wasn't..."

Anne ignored the interruption and ruthlessly kept going "...so you gave yourself a reason to reject love before it could reject you, by dating a few losers who you knew that you could push around and subsequently wouldn't have the fortitude to stand strong at your side. Thereby, verifying your suspicions that no one could love you, which gave you a reason not to trust any man. Thus keeping your heart safe from the one man who could actually break it, should you ever meet him."

Lois breathed heavily as the retort on the tip of her tongue burned to be expressed.

"Lo?" Anne asked softly after a minute of silence "I didn't mean to be so hard on you."

"Are you saying that you're wrong?"

"No, I just hated to see the way you threw yourself away on men who weren't worthy of you from the beginning and then got hurt in the process because you were afraid." She replied gently but candidly "Love's a scary business Lo but if you keep protecting your heart and never take the chance of letting go completely, you'll never really live."

She closed her eyes in shame and quietly confessed "I'm scared."

"I know."

"I hated the way my exes let me push them around you know."

"I do know, very few women want a man who's a cream puff and you're not one of them." Anne replied readily "You need a man who's secure in himself because only he will be strong enough to take you on Lo."

She sniffled in agreement.

"Do you believe Clark's that man?"

Lois gulped back a watery chuckle "He is now, yeah."

"You said that you told him everything, meaning you didn't give him the fabricated version that you've given past boyfriends correct?"

"Uh huh."

"And did you tell him the stuff that you want to tell Carol and me but can't?"

Lois drew back startled "What, I..."

"Sweetie it's ok." Anne smiled in understanding "We know you haven't told us everything and neither of us think it's got anything to do a lack of trust in us, but because it's something that you can't reveal, correct?"

"God I'm so sorry, I'd tell you if I could but I can't and..."

"Lo, we know. To be honest, we both think it's one of those, 'if I tell you, then I'll have to kill you' scenario's we've all seen on TV shows." She finished with a laugh.

"That sounds so hokey but yeah, that's pretty much it." She admitted remorseful.

"We thought so." Anne said pleased "So did you tell Clark all of it or did you hold back some details?"

"I told him everything but it's not because I trust him more than you and Carol honestly." She reassured quickly.

"Lo if you're not telling us because it's for our own safety, then can I just say thank you." Anne reassured steadily "I have no desire to be locked up, killed, hiding from whomever for the rest of my life, or having to guard my tongue every time I open my mouth and neither does Carol; so let's just move on ok."

"Ok." Lois sighed in relief.

"Good, now by telling Clark everything it clearly shows that you don't mind if you have to go on the run with him..." She put in amused causing Lois to giggle in return "Did you tell him because you knew him years ago so couldn't lie, or because you didn't want to lie to him specifically?"

"Because I didn't want to; I could have made up something but I didn't want to do that with him." She confessed softly.

"Following your instincts is usually the only option you have in this kind of situation."

"Yeah."

"And how have they been feeling lately?"

"Not good." She confessed after a slight pause.

"That's because you've been giving Clark a diluted version of yourself but if he's the right man Lo, then he won't want a watered down version of you. He won't want some cardboard cut-out that looks like you but has no substance. He'll want you as you are and count himself fortunate just to have you and your love; nothing else."

"Ok." She whispered in acceptance.

"Good..." Anne sat up straight "...but Lois I'm going to give it to you straight now with no holding back; are you ready?"

She swiped a hand over her cheeks and firmed her chin "Yes!"

"Ok, we both know that summer romances tend to come with a use by date and the signs it's over are usually pretty clear. I'll even admit that what you've said about him ducking out on dates doesn't sound promising but maybe Clark hasn't been giving you signals the romance is over, maybe he's been confused by your behaviour and that's why he's been acting weird."

"I've been driving him away." Lois gasped horrified.

"Maybe." She reiterated steadily "So if you want that man for a lifetime and truly want to know how he feels about you, then you're going to have to make the first move."

"How?"

"You need a plan."

"I need a plan." She reiterated strongly.

"Right!" Hearing the resolution Anne nodded "Now you said the two of you haven't been intimate for almost two weeks correct?"

"Uh huh."

"Have you tried seducing him?"

"No, I was trying to be meek and pathetic." She groaned loudly "What the hell was I thinking?"

"Clearly you weren't." Anne responded lightly "How long did you say it's been since he kissed you; and I mean a really passionate kiss on the lips?"

"Eight days..." Lois groused unhappily "I've been counting."

"Well that's just messed up."

"I know."

"When did you start acting all meek?"

She scratched her brow thoughtfully "I'm not sure because it's all gotten mixed up with the other stuff I've been doing, but I think it was about the same time he stopped kissing me."

"Hmm, well it sounds like the two of you might just have your signals crossed." Anne frowned in deliberation.

"You think?"

"Yeah."

"So I should seduce him."

"Definitely and I guarantee that if he wants you, then it won't be long before he takes control of the situation."

"I can't wait." She licked her lips in anticipation.

"And like any woman worth her salt; LET HIM!" Anne cheered loudly.

"I will." Lois laughed happily "Thanks Anne, and thanks for the kick in the butt too."

"No problem, if one of your two best friends can't do it then who can?" She asked cheekily.

Laughing cheerfully Lois hung up the phone then raced into her room for her purse and car keys; she was going shopping and tonight Clark Kent wasn't going to know what hit him. Grabbing the dog's leash, she raced out the back yard and called Attila while almost jumping up and down in excitement.

oOo

_Kent Farm – Approx: 4pm_

Clark looked at the calendar on the kitchen wall and tapped the date. In exactly one week and two days it would be the first of September; in 9 days Lois' holiday would be over. At least he assumed she was supposed to be staying until the last day of August. He'd never actually asked and she hadn't said; he'd just taken it for granted.

With a growl he spun towards the fridge and after grabbing a beer, stalked into the lounge room to throw himself down on the couch. Twisting off the top, he took a deep gulp of the liquid and looked down broodingly into the bottle.

It seemed he'd taken a lot for granted including the fact that he'd have Lois purring like a kitten under his hand by now. Well either he'd overestimated the power of his charm, or underestimated the task he'd set himself because she hadn't said that she loved him, hadn't said that she was staying; in fact she'd done bugger all to let him know how she felt and it was pissing him off.

He'd spent days lavishing her with attention and showering her with romance and what did he get for all his trouble? The girlfriend from hell; that's what!

Shuddering lightly at the creepy feeling crawling up his back, he looked over his shoulder as if expecting to find something horrible there. Once upon a time the thought of finding a woman who hung on his every word, laughed at all his jokes and deferred to him on every occasion, would have been a dream come true. Now that he had her, it was seriously freaking him out.

Lois hadn't nagged at him, hadn't lectured him, hadn't disagreed or argued with him once. Instead she'd taken to asking him for his opinion on everything and tittering like a teenage girl. God, even he knew that sometimes the things that came out of his mouth were unfunny and downright stupid but rather than telling him to shut it, Lois giggled annoyingly.

And she was so damn understanding...about EVERYTHING!

His brilliant idea of acting like a gentleman and keeping his hands to himself had seemed so simple at the time, but that was when he'd been labouring under the illusion that Lois would crack like an egg and declare her love for him quick smart. However after spending 5 fruitless days getting nowhere fast, he'd known that his position was a little precarious so had to cancel their plans for her to spend the weekend at the farm.

It was either cancel or perish!

By then it had been 8 days since they'd last had sex. Now it was 12! Taking a quick look at his watch, Clark let out a little whimper and wondered if there was any shame in a grown man crying. This time 12 days ago, right at this very minute he and Lois were going at it like rabbits on the kitchen floor while the rain poured down.

Shaking that off, he took another gulp of beer and sighed in frustration.

If she'd stayed at the farm last weekend it would have ended in one of three ways; him baying at the moon like a raving lunatic due to lack of sex, him slavering like dog at her feet for sex, or him yelling at her for being so damned giggly and irritating. By then he'd been so desperate to get his snarky girlfriend back, that he'd deliberately called her at the last minute to change their plans hoping she'd chew him out but instead she'd been accommodating and sweet.

Growling silently, Clark tipped his head back and glared at the ceiling while recalling that hideous conversation.

oOo

_19th August – Approx: 5pm_

"Hello."

"Hey Lois I..."

"Don't worry I'll be there soon. I've just finished putting Attila's and my stuff in the car so..."

"I'm calling because I don't think you should stay over after all." He announced loudly over her.

"You don't?"

"No."

"Can I ask why?"

"Well I figure that since you're comfortably settled back at your place again, then it's silly for you to waste your time packing just to come over here for a couple of days."

"I'm already packed."

He pressed the phone harder against his ear hoping that was a touch of peevishness he'd heard, and replied breezily "Yeah sorry, I should have called earlier."

"That's alright no harm done, but since the cars already packed then there's no problem about me coming over right?"

"Actually there is yeah." He informed her airily without expanding on the reason.

"Oh! Well...ok."

"And now you have to unpack everything."

Lois cleared her throat noisily, Clark silently encouraged her to shriek then frowned in fierce disappointment at her overly cheerful "Yes well these things can't be helped; it's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal!" He repeated amazed "Are you kidding, it's a very big deal. Some of my friends have complained about their girlfriends ripping them a new one for less than this."

"Well don't forget that you're only getting half the story from your friends..." She tinkled out a laugh "I'm sure their girlfriends had good reason for being upset, whereas I don't because I'm just as certain that you meant to call me earlier and..."

"As a matter of fact, no; I just thought of it." He interrupted smoothly.

The phone went dead quiet.

"I see." She replied after a beat "Well that's ok, I know how it is?"

"Are you upset with me?"

"Don't be silly..." She scolded gently "...you were busy and it slipped your mind, I understand perfectly."

Stop being so damn forgiving, he yelled mentally before beginning jovially "Actually it didn't slip..."

"I HAVE TO GO!" She cut in shrilly, then paused and added more tranquilly "Sorry, I didn't mean to speak so loudly, Attila's just being a pain in the butt right now."

"Yeah, I know how that can be." Since you're being a pain in mine, he sighed silently.

"Well I'll see you later then." She paused for a beat before asking tentatively "That's if you're still coming over later."

Giving it one last shot he remarked frankly but with just a touch of attitude "Not tonight, I'm going out with the guys." At the sound of breaking glass, his brow furrowed in concern "What was that?"

"That was Attila giving me the absolute shits." Lois replied tightly and with a muttered excuse me, turned away from the phone to address the mutt "Bad boy! Go outside and play while I clean this mess up." Coming back a few seconds later she announced brightly "Sorry about that; he was jumping around and knocked a glass onto the floor. So um...the reason you're changing our plans is to go out with your friends."

"You caught me out." He forced out a laugh and tacked on hopefully "I wouldn't blame you for being pissed at me for it."

"I think it sounds like fun."

"Yeah, it'll be great." Clark replied flatly in resignation.

"Mmm."

"So..."

"Um, listen I have to go." Lois interrupted soft voiced "I've gotta sweep up the glass and then unpack the car so..."

"Yeah and I've got..." He waved a hand then threw it up helplessly "...some stuff to take care off. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Uh huh."

Coming back to the present Clark shook his head bewildered. He'd like to believe that Lois had been taken over by a pod person because then he could do something to save her, but the Lois he was dealing with now was so sickeningly nice all the time, it was a chore to be in her presence.

He'd spent the past few days trying to figure out how to accomplish that and had even resorted to breaking two more dates in a desperate bid to get a reaction out of her, all to no avail. It was now Thursday afternoon, the weekend was once again looming and things hadn't improved at all, they'd just gotten worse.

No matter what he did, Lois took it with a smile. No matter what he said, she took it with a smile.

The only reason he could come up with for her behaviour was that she'd guessed how he felt and didn't return the sentiment, so was trying to frighten him away by behaving so out of character. And the reason she no longer verbally ripped him a new one even when she had every right to do so, nor tried to reform him with snarky pointed remarks, was because she didn't think he was worth her time or her attention.

If he didn't get his act together fast, Lois was going to leave and one day she'd meet someone else and then that faceless guy was going to be the recipient of her pushy ways. That guy was going to have her bugging him to pick up after himself around the house. That guy was going to be told off for dumb things. That bastard was the one she was going to try and reform.

Over his dead body!

Lois was HIS bossy girlfriend, so that faceless prick could go and find somebody else.

Now how could he get her back?

Seriously, how was he supposed to complain about her being agreeable all the time, without sounding like he was the one in the wrong?

Swiping one hand over his face Clark pushed up to his feet and retreated to his office in the back room. Getting comfortable behind the desk, he switched the computer on and once the internet was up and running began furiously searching and reading all the advice given on how to reel an elusive girlfriend back in.

"Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen." He read aloud and shook his head "That's gotta be wrong."

Tapping his chin thoughtfully he leant back in the chair and gazed up at the ceiling. Being romantic hadn't worked. The nice guy routine hadn't worked and trying to tick her off hadn't worked. So maybe it was time to give this a go.

He fastened his gaze back on the screen and read countless arguments on the subject before sitting back dejected. Now he was even worse off; some said no way, while others said yes please and he was just the poor schmuck looking for advice because he didn't know which way to turn.

Blowing out an exasperated breath he rolled his eyes and rapped his fingers absently on the desk. This treat them mean crap just sounded like a stupid game that only idiots indulged in and unfortunately, it appeared that he'd been playing it unknowingly by breaking dates with little notice. However, his reasons for doing so had been to make Lois snipe at him, not to pant after him all the more. Either way it hadn't worked and he wasn't going to keep doing it since he felt like a swine and hated the way she took it without protest, so trying again was out.

This courting business was hard work.

It should not be this difficult!

Actually right now he wasn't even courting Lois. He was just trying to find a way to get back the woman he'd fallen in love with; the one who pitched a fit at him for the dumbest things but whose company he enjoyed more than any other. _**That**_ was the Lois he wanted.

He wanted her to stop with the Shirley Temple routine, get with the program and bitch at him to show him that she cared and make him feel fucking SPECIAL!

Then he wanted to hear her say that she loved him.

oOo

_Murphy Place - Approx: 8pm_

Clark kept his eyes fixed on the TV screen and swallowed hard while trying not to imagine what Lois' was doing and what the surprise that she'd whispered she had for him a bare 5 minutes ago before disappearing was but knew one thing for sure.

He was fucked!

The way she'd acted since he'd arrived earlier was almost like that of a woman on the prowl. Huh, forget almost; she was exactly like that and he was clearly her intended prey.

Once upon a time he would have eagerly gotten into the spirit of things but that was when screwing around was the order of the day and fun was the only thing on his agenda. However, those days were gone. It hadn't been like that between them for a long time and he didn't want to go back to that again.

That wasn't to say he wasn't tempted and unfortunately, that was the precise problem. He wanted to make love with her so badly his back teeth ached. It felt like forever since they'd been together but he'd had to put the brakes on after spending hours pacing the floor one night while talking himself out of giving in to his baser instincts.

He'd been so close to waving the flag in surrender, that he'd almost convinced himself desire was a good enough substitute for love and as long as she wanted him sexually, then he should be satisfied. The only thing that held him back, was the knowledge that he and Lois had both given free reign to their appetites with a succession of casual partners in the past and with each other in the initially but he didn't want them to use each other in that way anymore.

They'd moved beyond that and he'd be damned before they'd go back to it.

The problem was he'd made that decision 8 long celibate days ago and now he wanted sex. He wanted Lois naked and under him, over him, next to him. He wanted to make love with her for hours; wanted to skate his tongue over every inch of her skin, to suck and nibble and sip with his lips and teeth, to touch...shaking his head to banish those images from his mind, Clark pinched the bridge of his nose and breathed deeply while trying to regain control of his willpower.

Earlier all he'd wanted was for Lois to start acting like herself again and now he wanted that irritating version of her back because that woman was a turn off. But the woman he'd been subjected to for the last hour, the one who resembled nothing more than a lioness stalking her prey was a huge turn on and he was feeling so deprived.

Oh shit!

That's what this was all about.

They hadn't and Lois wanted to. She wanted sex and was trying to break down his resistance so that he'd give her what she wanted.

Huh; not likely.

Right now he was concerned with what _**he**_ wanted; which was her love not just her body and he didn't intend to settle for less.

If he could take a little deprivation then she could too. Fortitude built character and he was going to have a truck load before they were done. So Lois could do her worst but she wasn't going to win; HE WAS!

Firming his chin Clark nodded in resolution and the sound of her walking down the hallway, called out silently; bring it on baby, I'm ready.

oOo

Lois looked at herself in the mirror and smiled nervously in excitement. This was it; the moment of truth.

From the moment Clark arrived for dinner she'd done everything she could to show him how much she wanted him and felt like smacking herself for almost ruining things.

The poor man had looked bewildered when he first arrived, then wary at her complete turn around and who could blame him. Throwing all that stupid advice about how to catch a man in the garbage was the best thing she'd ever done. She didn't need all that rot. She knew what turned Clark on and had done everything to fan the flames over the last 90 minutes. The man should now hopefully be well primed and raring to go. Once upon a time it wouldn't have taken this much effort to get him on board but since she was the one who'd turned him off, then it was only right for her to make the first move and turn him on again.

Nodding decisively, she turned to inspect the room and bit her lip in disapproval. The light was too bright which was an automatic mood killer; it needed to be dimmed, made romantic.

Turning on the bedside lights, she stepped over and switched off the main light before retrieving a filmy scarf from a bureau drawer and placed it carefully over one of the lampshades. Taking a step back to critically survey her handiwork, her brow wrinkled in deliberation. That was better but it looked staged.

Well Clark was no dummy so he'd know what she was up to, but so what. That was the whole point. Subtlety wasn't needed but ambiance was and with an uncaring shrug, she fiddled with the scarf until it looked like it had been tossed there negligently and smiled pleased with the result, now it was perfect. Without the harsh lighting the room looked seductive and with the sachets of scent she'd tucked in various places, it also smelt heavenly.

Stepping in front of the mirror for a last looksee, Lois swept her hands lightly over herself and smiled in anticipation of the coming night.

When Clark arrived earlier, the picture perfect fashion model she'd been swanning around as hadn't greeted him, the normal woman he'd seen countless times had but now he was going to see a different Lois; one that looked like a bombshell.

She was showing a generous amount of cleavage and lots of skin. Her hair had been tumbled to fall sexily around her face and over her shoulders. Her makeup had been punched up to give her face a dramatic wow factor and her perfume, ha! She'd taken no chances on something so important. Her perfume was Givenchy's, Very Irresistible Sensual; there was no way he'd be able to resist.

Her feet were starting to hurt in her new high heels and her ribcage felt like it was being caved in by the tight outfit she was wearing but who gave a crap; she looked hot.

Pressing her hands together like a prayer, she closed her eyes and hoped that Clark did still want her. God she couldn't bear it if she was pinning everything on this, only to discover that he had been giving her the cold shoulder so she'd take the hint their relationship was over.

Shaking her head to throw away all doubt, she patted her tummy to still the nerves and exhaled a few times.

It was all a matter of image.

Confidence was sexy!

It was time for her to get her man.

Stepping down the hallway she stopped at the edge of the lounge room and peeked around the corner to find that Clark hadn't moved a muscle but she wasn't fooled. They'd played this game before, so she knew he was only pretending to watch TV while impatiently waiting for her to return with seduction in mind. Wanting to laugh in sheer relief that he was getting into the spirit of things, Lois slinked into the room and posed herself artfully against the wall before calling out softly "Clark?"

oOo

Clark kept his eyes determinedly fixed on the TV screen and hoped he could survive this. He knew she was there, peeking around the corner at him and swallowed heavily in both dread and anticipation. God he loved it when she got all dolled up and played the vamp with him. Usually he lasted about three minutes before succumbing, his personal best was 3 minutes 13 seconds but this time he had to steal himself not to give in.

At the husky call of his name, he cautioned himself to keep it together before looking over and immediately felt his jeans tighten. Shifting minutely, he ignored the pounding of his pulse and sent a smile in her direction hoping that he looked pleased or better yet distracted but not ravenous "Yeah Lo?"

At his response her brow wrinkled.

Yeah Lo...seriously, that's all he can say?

He'd never been so blasé before. He'd never been so unmoved before. He's not even supposed to be able to speak. He's supposed to be speechless and drooling!

Shaking off disappointment at his lack of response, she threw her shoulders back to push out her breasts and ran one hand down her hip "I hope that you liked dinner."

Eternally glad his shirt wasn't tucked in, Clark bit back the howl that that wanted to rip out of his throat at her actions and bobbed his head "It was nice."

"Did you have enough to eat?"

He nodded silently.

Lois waited in expectation for him to say something suggestive about wanting her for desert but when he didn't, she gently prompted "I bought this outfit today but now I'm not really sure if it looks ok; what'd you think?"

I think it looks ok if you want to be arrested and I know that that I have to get out of here before you devour me, Clark thought silently but replied verbally "I don't know anything about women's fashion Lois."

"But do you like it?" She asked and turned in a slow circle to show him the full effect.

He didn't know what she had on underneath the clothes moulded to her body but suspected it was only skin; nothing but warm perfumed scented skin. Clenching one hand into a fist, he shoved it to the back of the couch while her back was turned and forced out a smile when she turned to face him.

"So?" Lois encouraged softly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah."

"How much?"

"It nice." He replied swiftly, hoping that would put an end to the matter.

Lois blinked at him nonplussed while mentally shouting.

Nice!

Are you freaking kidding?

It doesn't look nice.

I don't look nice.

I look like a slut!

I've dolled myself up like a ten dollar hooker just for YOU and if you think I look nice then either you're blind, a moron or both.

Hoping that she'd simply misheard, she questioned hesitantly "Um...you really think it looks nice?"

Wanting to simultaneously ram her fist into his face and cry her eyes out when he nodded in confirmation, she swallowed down the lump rising in her throat and smiled shakily "Thanks."

Giving her a perfunctory smile in return, Clark dragged his eyes back to the TV then swore richly under his breath when the light was switched off.

Undaunted by the curse she heard him mutter and determined to keep his attention on her, Lois switched on the lamp sitting on the end table beside the couch to further create an intimate atmosphere in the room, and took a seat beside Clark. She hoped that he took command of the situation soon because she wasn't sure her nerves could take much more. She was used to him throwing down the gauntlet with a smirk but making it clear just how much he was enjoying their exchange, which in turn made it extra fun when she laughingly took up the challenge to break his resolve. But given the current climate in their relationship, it was hard to keep up the nonchalant act and take the initiative so brazenly.

Clark looked at her from the corner of his eye as his pulse began to pound harder in his veins. He wanted to look away but his eyes were drawn to her legs. While Lois was standing her skirt had barely covered the essentials, but sitting down he was sure it was barely legal. All he could see was a mile of leg and he had personal experience with just how toned and strong those legs were. How silky they were to the touch. How they felt tangled with his, how they felt wrapped around his waist. How they...oh fuck! She was snuggling in and he could feel her breast resting against his arm, her fingertips gliding over his thigh, the scent of her perfume wrapping around him.

Feeling a thrill of delight when his muscles contracted and his body stiffened, Lois moved even closer to press herself against him just a little bit more and blew softly against the side of his neck.

Fighting against the instincts hammering at him to take what she was so freely offering, Clark desperately tried to shore up his self control but knew it was a losing battle. He'd spent years indulging his desires whenever he pleased so denying them now felt unnatural, didn't come easy and went against his nature. He'd lasted 12 days and that was a pretty good inning all things considered so he should be proud of himself.

His hand unclenched to reach for her then balled into a fist one more.

Hell no; 12 days was nothing!

He'd gone without for months at a time before, so he could bloody well do it now but he couldn't with Lois so close.

He needed to move but he had to be casual about it or she'd know that he was weakening. Once she knew that then he was done for because Lois wouldn't let up, until he gave in and they both knew that he would.

Reminding himself to be casual, he turned to her with raised brows "I could really go for something to eat, what about you?"

"Eat..." Lois goggled at Clark astounded "...but, but you just said that you had enough to eat a few minutes ago."

"Of dinner yes, but I wouldn't mind some more desert."

"Desert?" She parroted dumbfounded.

"Yeah I wouldn't mind some." He repeated hastily and pushed up to stand but was foiled when she swiftly threw one leg over his and murmured softly "I'm wouldn't mind some desert myself."

"Great, I'll get us both some then." He informed her with false cheer and once again began to stand, but fell back with a grunt when she slid right into his lap and whispered against his lips "Why don't you let me take care of both our hungers?"

"Is something on your mind Lois?"

"Mmm hmm." Her fingers busily unbuttoned his shirt then moved down to his belt buckle as her lips pressed fleeting kisses on his chin, cheeks and to each corner of his mouth.

Capturing her hands in a firm grip, Clark shook his head and told her gently but in a voice roughened with passion "No."

She heard the gruffness of his refusal and felt panic begin to rise that he wasn't kidding; he really didn't want this, want her. However, seeing the desire swirling in his eyes she felt confidence take hold and tugging her hands free, cupped his face and captured his mouth with hers for a long slow deep kiss. Lips stayed locked, tongues wove and danced gently over and around each others as both began to fall deeper into the abyss.

His arms clamped around her waist crushing her breasts against his chest, her arms slid around his neck as the kiss went on until both were breathless. Lifting her mouth a bare inch from his, she sent him a sultry smile and raised a brow teasingly "Are you sure?"

Clark panted harshly as his arms slipped from her waist to fall lifeless to his sides. He would have given in; he'd been ready to give her what she wanted but his resolve stiffened under the cocksure challenge so clear in her face a voice. She thought that she'd won. She thought they were playing a fucking game. Wanting to shake her and shake her for reducing them to this, he smiled tightly in return "Yes, I'm sure."

Lois drew back as if slapped unsure of what to say or do next.

Taking her momentary distraction for granted, he quickly hefted her off his lap onto the couch and getting to his feet, snatched the truck keys up from the coffee table "I have to go."

Biting down on her lip to hold back the sobs crowding into her throat, she wondered if she even had it in her to say the word 'goodnight' without breaking down. She wanted to be mature about this. She wanted to show him that she could take being refused without tears and recriminations. She wanted to...oh god; she couldn't. She couldn't let him go without trying again "Don't you..." Waving one hand over herself to state the obvious, she cleared her throat and began hesitantly "Don't you want...?"

Not giving her time to finish he shook his head "It's late and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow so I'd better make tracks; goodnight." Turning, he hastily made his way from the room towards the front door and almost tripped over Attila in his haste when the dog chose that moment to dash into the room.

At the slam of the door, Lois covered her face with her hands and dissolved into tears.

oOo

Bringing the truck to a screeching to a halt in front of the farm house, Clark climbed out but rather than go inside, he flew directly to the Arctic and dived in hoping the freezing cold water would take the edge of the desire burning in his groin. Coming back up when his lungs were screaming, he took a deep gulp of the frigid night air then dived down again only to repeat the process several more times before floating out and flopping face down on an iceberg in defeat.

It hadn't helped. How could it help when he didn't even feel the cold?

He'd left Lois' house place angry with her but he no longer was. He just felt weary; weary in mind and weary in spirit.

All he needed was a sign that she saw him as more than a man she had fun with. If she just gave him that much, he'd take what she was offering and use it to build a foundation that would last them for the rest of their lives. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of times over the past few months, the most notably on the day she told him all about herself, he'd never gotten one and was starting to wonder if he ever would.

He'd thought on the day she'd opened up to him that they were making progress but that was the last day things had been good between them.

He wasn't naive. He had enough experience to know when a woman wanted him and he knew that Lois did, but he also had enough experience to know that desire was volatile and fleeting. It could hit you unwillingly and take you out at the knees with little warning. It could impair your better judgement and make you question everything. It could become your master and leave you with a feeling of distaste, and it could be there one day but gone the next. So he knew that just because Lois desired him, it didn't automatically mean her feelings were involved or that she actually WANTED him for more than a summer romance.

Turning on his back to look up at the sky, Clark folded his arms behind his head and stared at the stars.

Before it had been so easy; feel horny, find someone to have sex with, feel good and go back to his life until the next time.

Now the rules had changed and it wasn't easy.

Love was supposed to make you strong, well it made him weak. He was weak enough to think about going back to Lois and saying to hell with it. If all she wanted was to give him her body and take his in exchange then fine, they'd do things her way. The only thing that stopped him was the knowledge that he'd come to hate both himself and her for reducing them to that. Unfortunately, he couldn't say with any certainty that his resolve would remain steadfast, and he wouldn't give in and go to her despite knowing the outcome.

He'd run from love, fought against it and tried to deny it but from the moment he'd acknowledged his love for Lois, he couldn't go back or settle for less. He needed her and the thought that she didn't need him with the same fierceness hurt like holy hell.

Sighing bleakly, Clark got to his feet and flew back home.

After having a shower and changing into dry clothes he sat on the couch wondering how he'd gone from feeling like he had Lois in the palm of his hand less than two weeks ago, to feeling like she was an elusive being he'd never be able to hold onto.

He wanted to tell her that he loved her but recalling how he'd felt when some woman he'd been seeing casually said those words and then cried when he turned her down and broke things off, held him back. It was for that very reason that years ago he'd stopped seeing any woman exclusively for longer than a weekend here or there.

He couldn't bear it if Lois looked at him with distaste, embarrassment, or god help him; with pity. Nor was he ready to let her go if she afterwards tried to break things off.

At the ringing of the house phone, he looked over and getting up reluctantly, trod into the kitchen to pick it up.

"Hello."

"Hi sweetie."

"Hi Mom, how's your trip going?"

"It's going good but I'm actually coming home tomorrow morning. Will you be able to come pick me up from the airport?"

"Sure but why are coming home early?"

Martha decided to keep the information to herself that the reason she was coming home, was because the whole town was betting on when her son was going to marry Lois. The fact that it had gotten to that stage, told her it was serious and she intended to be there.

Waving one hand around, she breezily replied "Well I've been trotting around all over the country for months now, so I thought it was time to give these old bones a rest."

"Are you ok?" Clark asked concerned.

"I'm fine honey." She reassured honestly "I just want to see my son, catch up with my friends at home and sleep in my own bed again; you know how it is."

"And you're definitely ok?"

"I promise Clark I'm fine, I just miss you."

"I miss you too."

"And how are things with you?"

He opened his mouth to answer, closed it and shook his head "Good mom, I'm good." He smilingly lied.

Hearing the reserve in his voice, she pursed her lips thoughtfully "And how's Lois?"

He cleared his throat "She's good...um do you want me to fly to pick you up or...?"

"No sweetie no, I'm getting a bit too old for that." Martha cut in with a small chuckle. She'd noted his change of subject and given what her son both had and hadn't revealed, concluded there was trouble in paradise. Hiding her concern, she remarked gaily but with pointedly "Besides if you fly then we'll have to wait until it's dark so no one sees us. I also have quite a bit of luggage and I think it will be nice to have a good long catch-up chat on the way home."

Smiling in agreement he nodded happy with the solution "Let me just get a pad and pen so I can write down your information." He returned momentarily "Ok mom, shoot."

After jotting down the details Clark read them back to ensure he'd recorded them correctly before hanging up after exchanging farewells.

He didn't know if he'd use the 3 hour drive home to bend his mom's ear about Lois or not. On the one hand, her perspective as a woman could prove to be invaluable to him. On the other, he was a grown man and wasn't altogether comfortable talking to his mom about his love life.

Then again, it wasn't like he had to give her all the details. He could simply sound her out and hear what she had to say. However, he certainly wasn't in the mood to listen to any of the 'letting Lois go in the hope that she'll come back to him' crap and doubted he'd be able to follow that advice, should his mom feel the need to give it.

The problem was he didn't know a lot of things but he did know that he'd better call Lois and explain why he couldn't come to breakfast on the morrow. Hell after tonight's fiasco she probably wasn't in the mood to talk to him, but if he took the cowards way out and just didn't turn up, he imagined it would be enough for her to write him off for good.

Half wishing that when she saw his name on the screen that she didn't answer, so he could send a text message instead, Clark pressed automatic dial then held his breath at the ring tone. Counting ring after another, he waited patiently and at the click followed by her voice, spoke quietly "Hi Lois it's me."

oOo

After her storm of tears subsided, Lois plucked out a handful of tissues from the box on the side table, blew nose fiercely and cuddled the dog who'd jumped into her lap distressed at her upset.

"Men are shits!" At Attila's whine she smoothed one hand over his back "I don't mean you boy."

Sniffling deeply, she kicked off her shoes and retreated to bathroom for a shower. But at the sight of her makeup streaked face, her red swollen eyes and her lipstick smeared teeth, her lips trembled.

She looked like hell.

After peeling off her clothes she brushed her hair until it crackled and securing it in a ponytail, scrubbed her face clean before stepping into the shower. Closing her eyes she lifted her face to the spray and wondered if she was a fool for not backing off even after Clark said no, or a fool because she still wasn't ready to give up on him despite being rejected.

She'd been so desperate to try and get back what they seemed to have lost, that she'd ignored his words and taken the desire she'd seen in his eyes as a declaration that he only needed a little more incentive. She'd assumed the passion she'd felt in his kiss proved that she was right, only to discover that she was wrong.

Sighing heavily Lois turned and let the water beat back on the nape of her neck.

She'd known; somewhere deep down she'd known he was going to say no again even before he said the words. She'd caught the flare of anger in his eyes; it had been brief but it had almost scorched her with the intensity and she known it was directed at her.

She couldn't even comfort herself by saying that she didn't understand why he'd been angry at her, since she'd had boyfriends who'd tried to change her mind when she wasn't in the mood and it always used to irk her when they seemed to think a little coaxing was all that was required so...

She could soothe her ego by saying she'd felt his arousal behind the zipper of his jeans but most men were easily turned on and couldn't exactly hide their aroused state. So congratulations Lois you turned him on, big woop! Give him a Play Boy and six pack and you'd probably get the same result. Hell, with some men give them one or the other and the score wouldn't change.

Well she'd tried and it had been a dismal failure. Clark had been so eager to leave he'd almost tripped over himself just to escape.

She didn't know what to do now but sometime before he arrived tomorrow morning, she had to figure it out. She wasn't ready to discuss what happened tonight. She doubted that she'd ever be ready for that but if he brought it up...actually, he was a man. So the odds of him wanting to discuss it were next to zero thank god.

That still left it up to her to figure out what to do. Did she smile and pretend it never happened. God she wasn't sure she could do that either. So discussion was out and playing ostrich was out; that didn't leave her many alternatives.

She couldn't think it about anymore. She was just going round in circles and getting nowhere fast. All she wanted now was to crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head and wish all of this away. With any luck she'll wake up and realise it had all been a bad dream.

Stepping out of the stall, she reached for a towel and turned at the soft ruff to find Attila sitting on the threshold waiting for her "Would you like to sleep with me tonight boy?"

At his bark, she smiled and bending down picked up the mutt "It's nice to feel wanted and doggy love can make almost anything better." Pressing a kiss to his head, she walked into the bedroom and her face contorted.

She'd forgotten about this.

Setting the dog on the bed she switched on the main light, swiftly removed the scarf from the lampshade and after tossing the sachets of scent in the bin that now made her feel nothing but nauseas, climbed into bed after taking care of her nightly beauty regime.

She was tired. Tomorrow was another day and hopefully it would be better than today; god knows it couldn't be any worse.

Her eyes closed and her cell phone buzzed.

Mentally sending whoever was the other end to perdition, she picked it up and seeing Clark's name on the screen, tiredness vanished.

She'd done a pretty good job of convincing herself that he hadn't done anything wrong. That she'd pushed him into fleeing. That she was a big enough person to take a knock back and give him another chance but knowing he was on the other end of the line...she couldn't do it. She wasn't inclined to listen to anything he had to say. In the morning she might be in a better frame of mine to pretend that she wasn't feeling angry, humiliated and hurt but tonight she just couldn't do it.

That she still loved him wasn't in question but she hated him too.

However, if she didn't answer the phone, then he'd know that she was upset and she'd rather die than give him that. Pride was the only thing she had left in her corner and she was clinging to it.

Taking a couple of deep calming breaths, Lois sat up straight and reminded herself that she _could_ do this. Image was all about perception and even feigned confidence could carry her through most any situation. Nodding decisively she pressed a hand to her tummy and in a calm voice said "Hello."

"Hi Lois it's me..."

Her knuckles whitened as her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn't do it.

"...listen I won't be able to come over tomorrow morning because my mom..."

At that her eyes opened and glittered in fury. She listened as he explained the situation without interrupting as numbness settled over her.

She could do this!

She could do this very easily.

When he grew silent Lois asked sedately "I thought the last time you talked to her, your mom was still having a ball running around all over the country. Why is she suddenly coming home now?"

"She said that she wants to rest but I think she just misses home." He forced out a laugh.

"I see; well tell her I said hello."

"I will..." Clark rubbed his eyes and wondered what the hell was he should say. Lois didn't sound angry but neither did she sound happy. Then again her ego had to be smarting but would she really want to talk about what happened earlier? Stupid question; of course she would. Where a man preferred to pretend certain hideous things didn't happen, women preferred to talk about them to death so yeah, she was probably champing at the bit for him to bring it up.

"Listen about tonight..."

"Yes."

"We need to talk."

No chance in hell buster; she thought silently but replied verbally "Not tonight, it's late and I'm really tired."

Grateful for the reprieve, he sighed quietly in relief "Ok, goodnight."

"Goodnight." She returned placidly then waited for him to click off before placing her cell-phone very carefully on the bedside table before springing out of bed enraged.

That lying, fucking, asshole, bastard!

He HAD been giving her the kiss off.

He HAD been letting her know he didn't want her around and when she threw herself at him tonight, he hadn't been pissed because she'd pushed the issue. He'd been irritated because she hadn't taken any of his freaking hints.

And now, _**NOW**_ he expected her to believe that his mom was coming home and that's why he wouldn't be over in the morning.

Bullshit; it was all such BULLSHIT!

"We need to talk." She mimicked bitterly.

The fucking liar!

He didn't want to talk.

He didn't want to explain anything.

He just wanted her to go. To leave and not bother him with a post mortem on their summer fling.

WELL FINE!

No doubt his plan was to call her tomorrow afternoon and say that his mom's plans had changed so she hadn't come back after all and ha ha ha, he couldn't come over for dinner because another emergency had popped up. Then he'd call the next day and the next and the next, all with one pathetic excuse after another for why he was suddenly unavailable until he finally managed to get the message through her thick head that he didn't want her anymore.

Well he didn't need to go to all that trouble because she FUCKING GOT IT NOW!

She didn't need to be hit over the head again and again and again.

He wanted her gone; well she was _**GONE!**_

Clark Kent could kiss her ass and then go straight to hell!

Rushing to the closet, Lois pulled down one suitcase then the other and ignoring Attila's bewildered barking and jumping around her feet, threw the cases onto the bed and flung them open. Dashing madly between the closet and the chest of draws, she grabbed armfuls of clothes and threw them in the direction of the bed until both stood empty and the room looked like a tornado had ripped through it.

The whirlwind couldn't be maintained. Panting from exertion, she slid to the floor and curling up among the mess; cried.

It was over.

They were over.

Summer had officially come to an end.

oOo

_Approx 1.45am_

Lois walked silently from one room to the next ensuring that in her haste to leave, that she hadn't forgotten anything. Everything was spic and span. She was leaving the house in the same condition that she'd found it. Dashing a hand across her eyes she firmed her chin and after a last walk through to check all the doors and windows were locked, looked down at the dog who'd refused to let her out of his sight all night "C'mon boy, it's time to go home."

Attila whined softly but obediently trotted out the front door after her.

After giving the handle a tug to ensure the door was locked, she placed the keys in an envelope addressed to the realtor and sealing it shut, tucked it under the welcome mat before making her way to the car which she'd finished packing less than 10 minutes previously.

Getting comfortable behind the wheel she stared at the house but could only see the bare outline in the darkness of the night. At Attila's woof, she patted him gently "Get comfortable sweetie, we're going to be on the road for a while." He woofed again at her voice, curled up on the seat but kept his eyes on her, completely ignoring the toys she'd placed there for him.

Switching on the ignition she backed out of the driveway and took to the road to begin the first stage of their long road home.

Stopping at the corner she glanced at Attila and stroked one hand over his back. She knew the dog was aware of her unhappiness. The poor little thing had followed her around for hours while she'd rushed around packing their things then packing the car. He'd stayed at her side while she'd frantically cleaned the house, refusing to let her take more than two steps away and had even followed her into the toilet. He'd only let her go in there alone when she kept the door partially open but had still stuck his head inside every other second just to ensure she was still there.

She knew the reason he'd stuck to her like burr was because he'd been scared she was going to leave him behind and although she'd tried to reassure him that wouldn't happen, the dog had been burnt in the past. Her mad dashing around the house had done little to reassure him but hopefully now that they were on their way, he'd feel secure enough to settle down and fall asleep.

Once she'd calmed down and pulled herself together enough to think, she'd realised that she couldn't just pack up and leave Smallville without making some plans. If she'd only had herself to worry about then yeah, she would have but since she had Attila, she'd had to take the time fire up her laptop and find a pet friendly hotel that she could book into with short notice.

Leaving had been hard and although she'd learnt long ago how to make and face hard decisions, she'd never before felt like she was dying inside because of it. Rubbing a hand over her chest, Lois reminded herself tartly that she wasn't dying and had no intention of doing so by driving emotionally, recklessly or tiredly just to achieve her goal and maybe causing an accident.

She'd never really believed in angels but just the sheer fact that she had a full tank of gas plus a full can in the trunk courtesy of her dad's instructions so could leave Smallville directly and put quite some distance between her and Clark, was starting to make a believer out of her. Of course if there were angels looking out for her, then they'd fallen down on the job when they didn't stop her from falling in love with man who didn't love her back but at least they'd made sure that she was lucky enough to get a booking in a pet friendly hotel just outside of Rock Springs, Wyoming. She'd had to take a cabin with a three day minimum booking and pay through the nose for it, whether she stayed for the full period or not but money was the least of her concerns. She was just grateful that she could keep Attila with her and had a place to stay tomorrow night. So basically she was still floating down the river called shit but at least she wasn't without a paddle and that was something.

If she'd had it in her to confront Clark or even just talk to him with head held high and composure firmly in place she would have done it, then again what was the point? All she'd succeed in doing was further humiliating herself and for what; a love affair gone wrong. How could she do that when love had never been part of the equation? She was the one who'd changed the rules when she fell in love with him and although that wasn't his fault, she almost wished that she had stopped at the farm long enough just to kick him in the balls before leaving. The broken foot would have been well worth it and the pain would have been a welcome relief from the knives presently slashing into her heart.

She just wished that she knew why things had changed. Why he'd changed. She'd come to three conclusions and none of them did her any favours.

The first was that he'd been turned off by her abilities. If that was the case, then he wouldn't be the first man who felt that way but given his own little secret, she wouldn't have thought that Clark wouldn't have been prejudiced against hers. Then again he'd told her that when he was younger how badly he'd wanted to be normal and sometimes those dreams never quite died. So after thinking things through, he could have decided that he wanted a normal girlfriend and if it was that, then she'd never meet the criteria.

The second was that he'd decided it was time for the relationship to end, in which case his sudden disinterest made sense.

So he could have been doing what men have been doing since the beginning of time; which was neglecting their girlfriend and treating her mean, in the hopes that she'd get fed up and dump him. Or he'd been trying to give her the message that as summer was nearly over, their relationship was too and as such, it was time to begin the brush off process so she'd take the hint and leave without fuss. He might feel like a prick but if it would get him out of the relationship relatively unscathed, with the added bonus of being spared a tearful laden scene.

The third was the one that hurt the most to admit; she'd been fooling herself all along.

Passion was mercurial. Yes, it was explosive but it could also be extremely capricious and dangerous to your peace of mind, if you didn't keep your head screwed on straight. She knew all of that from experience. She also knew the ending of a relationship wasn't always a slow slide into drifting apart. Quite often when desire it hit you hard and hot at the beginning, it cooled down just as abruptly when it was over. So just because her feelings had grown from their initial attraction, that didn't mean Clark's hadn't expired.

She'd known that; she'd know all of that. Yet she'd done what women have been doing from the beginning of time; fallen in love with a man and duped herself into seeing what wasn't there because she so desperately wanted it to be.

Clark could have guessed how she felt but rather than telling her that he didn't return the sentiment, he'd decided that his sudden coldness would be message enough. Well it was pretty damned presumptuous of him to assume that she wanted more; bastard! Of course she wanted more but she hadn't SAID IT.

Whatever message he was trying to send her way had gotten lost in translation somewhere along the line and who cared anyway? He could take his message and shove it where the sun don't shine. She was leaving for her sake, not his but she earnestly and sincerely wished that Clark Kent got a really bad case of super-piles, in return for his shitty treatment towards her.

oOo

_3.5 hours later_

Seeing the signs up ahead indicating that she could soon stop for gas and food, while also giving both her and Attila the chance to stretch their legs Lois sighed in relief. She didn't mind driving but she was looking forward to taking a little break. Taking a quick glance at the dog, she was pleased to see him curled up fast asleep and hoped their stop wouldn't unsettle him all over again.

30 minutes later after filling up the tank Lois indicated to the attendant that she was moving to the parking lot and at his wave, did so before waking up Attila.

After taking care of their immediate needs, she stopped beside one of the tables placed outside and crouched down to smooth a hand over the animal's head "I'm just going to order us some food and pay the bill. You sit here and I'll be back in a few minutes ok?"

At his uncertain woof, she spent a couple more minutes reassuring the beast and returned shortly afterwards with food and drinks for both. While Attila heartily consumed the hamburger and fries she'd bought him, Lois toyed with hers and looked at the people milling around. It always surprised her to find so many on the road at this time of the morning but since travelling at night meant dealing with minimal traffic, then it made sense that just as she preferred it for that reason, others would feel the same way. Yeah ok, so in this particular instance she was running away...no, running away meant that she was a coward and she wasn't. She'd simply removed herself from an uncomfortable situation that was only going to get worse, not better but that didn't make her a coward; it made her smart.

Sighing heavily she picked up her burger then put it down, dragged a couple of salt laden fries through the ketchup and chewed unenthusiastically before washing them down with a gulp coke.

When a Greyhound bus pulled up and the passengers dispersed she looked at them absently, smiling and nodding in return and felt her heart ache at the sight of the elderly couple making their slow way towards the restaurant. She didn't know who was more concerned for the other; the woman who was fussing over her husband insisting he get something to eat, or the man who wanted to ensure his wife had time to use the facilities before they had to board again. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she wondered why some people were so damned lucky and others weren't.

Shaking her head, she looked at the food on her place and grimaced. There was no point in trying to finish her meal, she just couldn't do it. She'd only forced herself to eat some of it in the first place to ensure she had some sustenance for the drive, not due to hunger and the thought of trying to get anymore down made her feel ill.

At Attila's bark she looked down and seeing that he'd finished his burger and water, decided it was time to get going.

Settling behind the wheel she looked at the people milling outside the restaurant and searched until she found the elderly couple sitting at one of the tables. They looked so content; in each other, in life, in sharing a lovely summer's night. She wanted to feel content. She wanted what they had.

Feeling the need to get away quickly when the lump began to grow in her throat, she switched on the ignition and winced at the rock music that came pouring out the speakers. Laughing shakily when Attila growlingly shook his head, she flipped through the channels and stopped on the golden oldies station. Maybe she was a masochist but listening to sentimental tear-jerking songs that were intended to lacerate the heart and pound against her ears until she begged for mercy was somehow soothing. She already felt like crap and sad romantic songs were going to make her feel a whole lot worse and that was just fine. They suited her mood and no amount of rock music was going to make her happy so she might as well be comforted by others who knew just how lousy she felt right now.

Swallowing back the tears she tried not to think of Clark but couldn't stop. Her lips trembled, the tears leaked from her eyes and trailed silently down her cheeks. When the opening bars to the song on the radio echoed through the car, the tears began to fall faster. Picking up Attila she cuddled him to her chest and sobbed. The dog licked at her chin while Lois listened to Nat King Cole telling her to cheer up, brighter days were on the horizon which caused her heart to break just that little bit more.

_Smile though your heart is aching  
Smile even though it's breaking  
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by  
If you smile through your fear and sorrow  
Smile and maybe tomorrow  
You'll see the sun come shining through for you  
Light up your face with gladness  
Hide every trace of sadness  
Although a tear may be ever so near  
That's the time you must keep on trying  
Smile, what's the use of crying?  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile  
If you just smile_

_That's the time you must keep on trying  
Smile, what's the use of crying?  
You'll find that life is still worthwhile  
If you just smile_

She'd always believe that Nat was right. Hadn't she done as he suggested for most of her life? Hadn't she smiled and showed the world a happy face, no matter how low in spirit she'd felt? Hadn't she tried to looking to the future instead of getting bogged down in the now? Sure there'd been times her smiles had been false, mostly notably when she'd hidden her own fears deep in her heart, to reassure her dad and Lucy everything would work out. And sure there had been times during those dark days when smiling had been an impossible task and she'd clung on by her fingernails but those had been unusual circumstances. In most cases she'd _tried _but this time she just couldn't do it. She didn't want to smile. She didn't want to look ahead. She didn't want to pretend.

She wanted Clark. She wanted to feel his arms around. She wanted to be surrounded by him, to hear his voice and have him tell her everything would be ok.

Just 12 days ago, twelve stinking days ago she thought...she actually thought that she had a chance. That she, Lois Lane was going to be lucky this time. That this time life and love wasn't going to kick her in the teeth and walk away laughing. She should have known better.

Love was for the lucky and that wasn't something that applied to her. She never normally depended on luck or waited for it to swing her way because it was such a fickle creature. Usually she made her own luck but love wasn't something that she could make happen; it was either there or it wasn't and it wasn't there. Not for her.

Sobbing harder she pressed her face into her hands and listened to the words of the song until it faded out. At Attila's soft whine she grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the dashboard and setting the animal on her lap, scrubbed hard at her eyes before blowing her nose fiercely. And when the beast leant up by placing his paws on her chest to lick her face, she smiled tremblingly "Doggy love can't make this one better boy but it does make it hurt a little less; thank you."

She pressed her lips to his nose then set him carefully on the passenger seat and stroked him gently until he fell asleep, while silently wishing that she too could curl up and rest, content with the world just from receiving a kiss.

Retrieving her purse and the bottle of water from the back seat, she grabbed the Advil and after washing down a couple reached over to switch the station then changed her mind. She needed music to keep her company because she couldn't bear to listen to her own thoughts, neither could she stand to hear rock music, so nostalgic schmaltz would have to be her companion.

Putting the car into gear she pulled out onto the road and was shortly on the highway once more.

oOo

**26****th**** August **–Rock Springs, Wyoming: Approx 2pm

Bringing the car to a halt in the parking lot of the hotel, Lois climbed out of the car and stepping around to the passenger seat gave Attila a gentle shake. The dog yawned hugely, hopped out and stretched before scampering towards the bushes to take care of business then raced back to her side.

Picking him up she looked into his cute little face and tried to smile "I know it's early but we've been on the road for over 12 hours and I've made reservations here. So I don't want to take the chance on not finding another hotel where you'll be welcome so easily if I get tired later." He licked her hand and woofed "We'll get on the road again tomorrow morning and just take it easy for the rest of the day ok, boy?"

Scanning her eyes over the hotel and the surrounding area Lois shrugged uncaring; the place looked welcoming but she wasn't in the mood to appreciate it. However, she was suddenly inordinately grateful that she wouldn't be staying in the main building. Having to greet people in the hallway and smile while passing the time of day was beyond her at present, so at least she'd be spared that.

Right now all she wanted was a shower and then directly afterwards to fall face down into bed. The first she'd take care of ASAP, the second she'd put off as long as possible. She'd managed to keep her mind on the road instead of Clark...ok, not completely but almost. So the last thing she wanted was to stop and have him invade her mind. Hopefully if she kept herself busy doing whatever the hell until she was too exhausted to stay awake any longer, he wouldn't be there when she crashed later on.

Did he realise yet that she was gone? Did he even care?

Huh; more than likely he was wiping his brow in relief, that she wasn't hanging around Smallville snivelling all over him.

Shaking it off, she set the Attila on the ground and after snapping on his leash, scooped up her purse from the back seat "Come on boy, let's get signed in so we can make ourselves comfortable."

20 minutes later she brought the car to a stop outside the cabin assigned to her and looking at it through the windshield shrugged once again; it was fine.

Climbing from behind the wheel, she held the door open for Attila to hop out and took a quick survey of the surroundings. The main building was in front and the self contained cabins were located at the back. She could see other cabins similar to hers interspersed among the trees and although they weren't far away, they were far enough so they weren't on her doorstep which afforded her a modicum of privacy.

Retrieving one bag for herself and another filled with Attila's paraphernalia from the boot, she headed to the cabin with the animal fast at her heels "We'll get settled in first. Then I have to go do a little shopping for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow."

The dog barked at her voice and dutifully kept pace as she walked through the cabin for a quick inspection of the layout; main room complete with lounge area, dining space and kitchen nook. One bedroom off the main room with a bathroom en suite attached, small backyard with a patio and an even smaller front yard.

It wasn't the Ritz but it was cosy, clean and comfortable. Maybe she would stay here for the full three days. She'd only intended to stop for the night before heading out again in the morning and reaching the sanctuary of home sometime tomorrow. But the thought of facing Carol and Anne's questions when she turned up unexpectedly, seeing their concern, hearing them whisper to each other and knowing it was about her...she wasn't ready for that.

She knew they'd only do it because they care. They'd all seen each other through the bad times when a relationship turned sour in the past, so she knew the drill but this wasn't the ending of just any relationship and it was too fresh.

Maybe in about 10 years she'd be ready to talk about it with them, then again maybe not.

Hawaii was looking pretty good right about now, so maybe she'd go there instead then she wouldn't have to talk to anyone.

Her life right now was full of maybes.

Retrieving the Attila's food and water bowls from his hastily packed doggie bag, she'd filled both and setting them down in the kitchen area left him to enjoy, while she cooled down in refreshing and reviving shower.

90 minutes later the two of them were standing in the reception of a pet grooming parlour.

"Hello."

At the cheery smile from the receptionist, Lois picked up Attila and sent the woman a rather forced yet hopeful smile in return "Hi, um I know that I don't have an appointment but I was wondering if you'd have time today to give my dog a bath and make him all pretty?"

Laughing lightly, the teenager whose badge proclaimed her as Jenny, nodded "It's ok, we do take walk-ins and you're in luck because we've just had a cancellation so we can look after him now if you like."

Grateful, Lois smiled shakily in return "Thank you; his names Attila."

"Well we'll be happy to give Attila a nice grooming but I just need to get some details from you first and then we're good."

Taking the clipboard that was held out, Lois placed the dog on the ground and after filling out the required information, handed it back before picking up Attila and handing him over too.

At his panicked bark she smoothed a hand over his head and promised gently "I'll be back to pick you up sweetie."

"If you come back in an hour he'll be ready."

"Thanks Jenny."

Stepping outside the shop, she dug the car keys out of her purse and settling herself behind the wheel, wondered if she had the energy to stroll through the mall.

Normally she enjoyed shopping. She liked looking at the clothes and seeing if there were any she particularly favoured and wanted to make for herself. She got a kick out of trying on shoes and perfumes, checking out the makeup and jewellery. She loved browsing through the lingerie; the silks and satins, examining the lace detail and little touches that made an item special that would feel fabulous against her skin so she felt sexy, sensuous then imagining Clark's reaction...

Her lips trembled and her throat burned.

He didn't want her.

Resting her head on the steering wheel, Lois closed her eyes and his face was there.

Anne was right; she'd protected her heart for years but it hadn't only been after her life had changed, it had also been before. She'd always been cautious but not enough. She hadn't fallen in love with Clark, hadn't looked at him one day and realised her feelings had changed, she'd slid into love with him. Just little things, one on top of another and she'd taken a long slow slide into love. She'd gone into their relationship with her eyes wide open and still been caught unaware.

She'd guarded her heart jealously but she couldn't protect it when love had blindsided her.

Some people said they didn't regret the experience even when love didn't work out. They talked big about how they'd grown from it, learnt from it; she couldn't share that sentiment. If she could go back in time to stop herself from ever meeting Clark again, she'd do it in a heartbeat. Her life might not have been exciting and it hadn't set the world on fire but neither had it hurt like this.

She wanted to blame him, wanted to hate him but couldn't. He'd made it clear from the beginning their relationship was only about sex. She was the one who'd let herself get caught up in the romanticism of his smiles, their shared laughter, his hugs and kisses. His tenderness, the way he always seemed to want more from her and then more again. Now it was up to her to get over it.

Lifting her head, she scrubbed her hands over her face and wiggled uncomfortably as memories of the previous night flashed through her mind.

The way she'd dressed. The way she'd crawled on top of him, threw herself at him even after he'd made it clear he wasn't interested…god! And as if her ego hadn't been humiliated enough, just knowing that she'd still been prepared to hold on and hope things would get better until he called with that bullshit about his mom coming home made her feel ill. It had actually taken **THAT** slap in the face for her to wake up to herself, get the message and face the truth.

She'd been a fuckwit but thank god Clark didn't know, would never know.

She wished, she really and truly wished that she'd stuck around until the last day of August and left Smallville with a smile and a casual wave in farewell. That would have shown him he wasn't important enough for her to care. That would have left her looking dignified and cool. Or better yet, instead of waving goodbye, just leave him with a good hard kick to the balls in adieu. Screw her broken foot; she would have laughed like crazy when he limped away crying like a little girl. THAT would have been satisfying; that would have been…no forget kicking him. She should have grabbed some kryptonite, hunted him down like the dog that he is and when he was pleading for mercy, smile benevolently before grabbing onto his penis and twisting really, really hard and twisting and twisting and twisting and twisting.

It really burned her ass that she'd run away instead of doing any of that.

She'd run away!

She'd freaking run like an overemotional little twit and he'd know it.

The bastard would know it!

Now she wanted to hit him for that too.

Now she wanted to wrap her hands around his neck and shake him and shake him and shake him. Maybe bash his head into the wall a couple dozen times. Then stomp on his face with the spikiest heels she could find; he wouldn't look so fucking pretty by the time she was done.

She had Attila, apart from her dad he was the only male she wanted in her life from now on. From this day forth she'd recite her long held philosophy every morning and every night. It would be her mantra, her prayer, her daily devotional.

Looking at herself in the rear-view mirror, she recited out loud "Remember Lois; men are only good for one thing and even then it's only for three weeks out of a month, so screw the lot of them."

Slipping on her sunglasses, she turned the key in the ignition and drove to the mall.

oOo

_Approx 6.10pm_

Lois sat on the back stairs and watched as Attila scampered around the small yard. She was glad the dog's usual sunny nature was back and his vigilance on her movements had relaxed. Maybe taking him to the grooming parlour had been the right call. She'd done it to give him a treat and make him feel special but had noticed that since she'd picked him up, he stopped sticking to her like glue so must have realised that she wasn't intending to dump him and drive out of her life.

Whatever the reason for his relaxation, she was just happy this situation hadn't set the beast back. Getting to her feet, she smiled when the animal's head lifted and his gaze zeroed in on her before he gave the doggy equivalent of a shrug and began to roll over the grass.

Stepping into the kitchen nook she opened the fridge, grimaced and closed it again. She wasn't in the mood to eat. Later on she'd force something down if only so she didn't feel sick from hunger but right now she just wanted to keep busy. The problem was that there was nothing she really felt like doing.

She could take a nap but wasn't ready to close her eyes since she knew who's face would be there. She could do some sewing but unless she gave it her full attention which was doubtful, would likely muck it up and have to later unpick it. She wasn't in the mood to read a book so TV was her last option.

Grabbing the remote, she got comfortable on the couch and began to flick through the channels hoping to find something to capture her interest. Stopping on a movie that was in the middle of a romantic scene, she watched silently for several minutes with lip curled up in disdain before calling out warningly "Don't listen to him Susan, he's a lying pig."

When the woman began to cry and passionately kiss the man at his declaration, Lois snorted loudly "You're a moron", then switched the TV off in disgust and closed her eyes.

At the knock on the door, she grimaced and buried her face in a couch cushion. She didn't want to see anyone and wasn't in the mood for polite conversations with strangers. Hopefully by staying completely quiet, her would be caller would think she couldn't hear them and go away.

Upon the second knock she pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. At the third she swore softly under her breath but got to her feet. Plastering a false smile of welcome on her lips, she pulled the door open then stepped back automatically at seeing Clark standing there with a look of absolute fury on his face.

He stepped forward and she took one back. He tugged the door out of her hand, she took another step back. He slammed the door shut, she took another step and then he was crowding into her space and snarling; "Why the hell did you leave!"

oOo

**26****th**** August **– Smallville Approx: 10.25am

Clark drove to Lois' place via the scenic route which granted only tacked on an extra 6 minutes driving time but he needed it while he worked out precisely what he was going to say to her.

Now that she knew he wasn't bound by conventional modes of transport, he could have zipped there in less time than it would have taken him to switch on the ignition in his truck but he liked driving; it gave a man time to think.

Not that he'd stopped thinking since leaving her place the previous night.

He'd tried watching TV; it hadn't worked.

He'd tried getting some sleep, it hadn't worked.

He'd tried doing a little bookkeeping, it hadn't worked. Not only had that one not worked, he'd spent a frustrating hour trying to figure out why the accounts didn't tally, only to gnash his teeth when he discovered that he'd transcribed one figure incorrectly. After that he gave up and decided to recheck them all when he could actually concentrate.

Then he'd had a beer, then another and another while reminding himself why he was abstaining from sex. In the dead of night those reasons seemed insane. Hell with the rising of the sun those reasons seemed insane. Now they were still important but he was ready to give in.

He'd dropped his mom at home, carried her luggage inside and left her to finish unpacking, while he talked to Lois.

The way he'd left things last night had been far from his brightest hour and he was well aware that he owed her an apology and an explanation for it but at the same time, he didn't want her to get the wrong impression. He was sorry for hurting her, for wounding her ego and knew that he'd done both by turning her down but opening up and telling her the reason for it was going to be damned hard.

Sometime during the night he'd decided to call it quits. He'd woken up this morning with the decision already made but he hadn't been happy about it, so used the 6 hour drive to Metropolis and back to determine if he could really accept less than what he wanted; needed.

In all honesty he doubted that he could but...there was always a but and in this instance, the but was that he couldn't give Lois up.

He was going to tell her how he felt and if she said no, said that she didn't want his love then he'd take whatever kind of relationship she was willing to offer. He hated himself for that weakness but if it was a choice between that or losing her altogether, he'd take it and hope that one day she would fall in love with him.

She liked him; well she had until last night. More than likely he wasn't her favourite person at the moment but she HAD cared and if he had to settle for caring, it was still better than nothing. Turning the truck down her street, Clark drove slowly while silently praying that when he laid his heart at Lois' feet that she picked it up, instead of stomping on it.

Swinging into the driveway he paused at seeing her car wasn't there and cursed under his breath. He'd wait, she might be back soon and now that he'd made up his mind to talk to her, he wanted to get it done.

Climbing out of the truck, he made his way up the front porch steps and lifted his hand to knock then shook his head and turned with the intention of waiting in the backyard, but at the flash of white from the corner of his eye, he swung back and felt his world tilt.

It was an envelope, half tucked under the doormat and he couldn't think of a good reason for it to be there. After staring at it for one long moment Clark picked it up, saw it was addressed to Roy Atkins the realtor and uncaring about privacy or anything else, ripped it open. His eyes scanned the few lines that she'd penned, his hand clenched around the paper crushing it in his fist. Digging the key out the envelope he opened the front door and walked inside.

He'd never noticed until now how silent a house could be when no one way occupying it. The low hum of power a person didn't notice until it was gone was still audible to his ears since it hadn't been switched off at the main, but otherwise the house was like a tomb.

He walked through the house, straight to the bedroom to find all the bedding neatly folded up and placed on the end; a quick sniff confirmed that it had also been washed and dried. Striding swiftly forward he slammed open the cupboard doors to confirm her clothes were gone, turned and pulled out the bureau drawers to establish the same before striding out to inspect the next room and the next and the next finding each as neat as a pin.

Lois must have gone on a cleaning frenzy the previous night to leave the place this immaculate.

She'd only left two items behind and seeing them made him furious.

Oh but he wasn't a fool. He understood all too well the message she'd left him by leaving behind both the kiddies pool and the Minnie Mouse hat that he'd bought her. Lois was telling him that she didn't want anything from him because they were over and she was done with him.

"Well fine baby; two can play that game!" Clark growled under his breath "You want to leave? Well that's just fine with me because I'm done with you too."

Hoping she could hear him, he mentally bellowed _"Did you hear that Lois? __**I'm done with you too!**__ So good luck, sayonara, it's been fun and all that shit but I don't need you. So go ahead and leave with my FUCKING BLESSING!"_

Slamming out of the house he got into his truck, drove to town and stopped in front of the realtor's office.

Nancy Williams looked up with a welcoming smile on her face but the "Hi Clark" faded from her lips at the scowl marring his face.

She knew an angry man when she saw one and as far as she was concerned, she wasn't paid enough to throw herself into his path to stop him from storming into her boss's office, if he had a mind to do so. However, that left her with another dilemma. Should she stay and listen to what was going on, stay just in case her boss needed her to call the sheriff, or retrieve her purse quietly and make tracks to the nearest coffee shop to spill the news that Clark Kent was pissed off and speculate with everyone as to why? Fortunately, she didn't have time to make such an earth shaking decision before Clark's voice was heard, consequently causing her ears to prick up like antennas.

oOo

"When did she go?"

Roy Atkins looked up irritated when his door burst open unannounced but at the question asked in a biting tone, he frowned in confusion "What?"

"When did she go?"

"When did who go?" He asked cautiously.

"Lois!" Clark bit out angrily.

"I'm sorry but I can't discuss clients with you."

"Look I'm really angry..."

He held up one hand "I can see that and I can appreciate it but I can't give out private information to just anyone who asks for it."

"I'm not asking for private information; I'm just asking you when she left." Clark saw the man hesitate and continued steadily "Roy you know me. I'm not some crazy lunatic with nefarious intentions towards her. All I want to know is when she left."

Weighing his business ethics against how he'd feel if his wife up and left him, Roy sighed and sat back in his seat "Lois called me about 20 minutes ago from the road to say that she'd left. I didn't know before that Clark. She mentioned that she'd cleaned the place and left the house keys, plus some extra bond money in an envelope under the doormat just in case. She apologised for leaving so suddenly, said that I was to contact her if I needed to for any reason and that's it. I intended to go and inspect the house during my lunch break; that's all I can tell you."

"All you can or all you know?"

"All I know."

Clark thrust the envelope at him "Here, the moneys in there but you don't need it since she's left the place spotless."

Roy read his name on the front and restrained himself from pointing out that the envelope shouldn't have been opened by anyone, except himself "Thanks."

"She didn't say anything else?"

"No, just what I told you."

Nodding shortly he turned and strode out of the office.

Nancy Williams pretended to be busy as Clark strode past her desk and out the door then turned at the movement from the corner of her eye to find her boss leaning against his doorway.

"I take it you heard all of that?" Roy asked amiably.

"There wasn't much to hear." She grumbled in disappointment, but there was enough she thought gleefully.

At his twitching lips, she cleared her throat and frowned "Besides, I was going to leave and give you some privacy but it's not my fault that you both started talking and didn't bother lowering your voices. So as the door was left open naturally I..."

"Cocked up your ears and listened to every word." He interrupted jovially.

"Please remember that I'm a lady." She sniffed haughtily.

He grinned and watched as she retrieved her purse from the bottom desk drawer "Going somewhere?"

"To get some coffee would you like a cup?"

He nodded agreeably and when she waved away his money, he shrugged and figured that she owed him a cup of coffee, since she was no doubt going to be out of the office for longer than 10 minutes spreading the word that Lois had left and Clark was pissed.

oOo

Clark drove into the yard, slammed out of the truck, stalked into the kitchen and slammed the back door "She's gone."

Martha saw the overwhelming hurt under the burning anger on her son's face and decided that now wasn't the time to lecture about rude behaviour. Nor was it the time to pretend ignorance on who 'she' was "When did she leave?"

"I don't know; by the look of the house she must have gone on a cleaning frenzy after I left her last night and knowing I wasn't going to be around this morning, she took the opportunity to leave." He returned crisply.

"And what are you going to do about it?" She asked gently.

"Nothing; if Lois wants to leave then good luck to her. I've never lowered myself to chase after any woman who pissed off the minute my back was turned and I'll be damned if I start now." He stalked to the door and pulled it open "I've got work." He walked out the door, slammed it behind him and stalked down the back stairs.

After tossing the supplies he needed into the back of his truck, Clark drove out to a spot in the middle of the two central fields to check both had been tilled enough to begin seeding of his winter wheat crop. He intended to do that before the week was out and as the fields had to be properly cultivated first, he considered it essential to give it them a good looksee beforehand.

More than satisfied he climbed back into the truck and brought the vehicle to a halt near the back fence that adjoined the Kent and Hubbard lands. After unloading the posts, wire fencing and sledge hammer from the back of the truck, he got down to work.

He didn't use any super-powers, didn't want to take the easy way out. He needed the physical labour. Wanted to feel the burn in his back, wanted to feel the ache in his arms, wanted to feel...shit! He wanted to feel anything except the rage, clawing and tearing through him at Lois' disappearance.

His muscles rippled and bunched as he continued to work at a steady pace and the anger continued to grow with every minute that passed as the same thoughts kept swirling through his head like a litany.

She'd left him.

She'd packed up and left.

Left Smallville; left him.

She'd left him.

Holding a fence post carefully in place, he lifted the sledge hammer carefully and brought it down with just the right amount of force to drive the post solidly into place then moved onto the next and the next and the next. Unable to take the chanting in his head any longer, he turned and heaved the hammer into the heavens before taking off.

oOo

_Approx: 11.45am_

Stalking into the Watchtower two minutes later Clark announced loudly without preamble "Oliver I need you to run a trace on a credit card for me."

Knowing it was serious by the tone in his voice, Oliver set aside his own work and swung the keyboard on its swivel stand to face him "Ok, so what do you want to know?"

"When and where it's being used."

"Name?"

"Lois Lane."

His fingers paused over the keyboard as the room became silent. The men turned from whatever they were doing, exchanged eye contact and wondered who was going to be brave enough to pose the burning question, given Clark's demeanour clearly said 'keep out' in capital letters.

Running his tongue over his teeth, Bruce asked carefully "Is this your Lois?"

"Yes."

Oliver cleared his throat hesitantly "Um Clark, we can't just run a trace on someone's credit card without a reason."

"You do it all the time." He replied swiftly.

"Not on law abiding citizens and not without a reason."

"I've just given you a reason." He retorted bluntly "I want to know where she is."

"Oh…ah!"

"Oh ah what?" He demanded belligerently.

"She's left." Bart summed up discreetly.

"Like a thief in the night." He growled viciously.

"Can't you find her with one of your many super-abilities?" Victor asked tactfully.

"I'm not a bloodhound." He snarled impatiently.

Victor held up his hands in defence "Sorry, I just thought you'd be able to do it."

"I can do it."

"Then…."

"I never said I was going to chase after her, I just want to know."

"You want to know because you intend to go after her Clark; admit it." Oliver manned up and stared back unflinchingly when his friend turned and drilled him to the spot with angry eyes.

"Fine; I'm going after her but I need time to cool down or I'll probably strangle her at the first opportunity." He growled in return.

"Good enough." Setting his fingers on the keyboard Oliver brought up the screen "What's Lois' middle name?"

"Joanne."

"Do you know her date of birth?"

"No." At Oliver's nod, Clark retorted defensively "Look, it was 15 years ago that she last lived in Smallville ok? So no, I don't remember her birthday and I doubt that she'd remember mine." He paused and rubbed his fingers over his brow "I know she's a year older than me but that's it; we never got around to discussing things like birthdays."

"Ok, do you have a residential address for her?"

"She lives in a suburb of San Francisco." At the frown, he shrugged "We never got around..."

"To discussing it, right." Oliver finished and shook his head then frowned at the screen "Well there are a number of Lois Lane's in America, so let me cull this down by getting rid of any whose middle names don't start with J." He hit a couple of keys and nodded "Hmm, ok we've got 5 left but if I whittle it down to ones who only live in California..." He tapped a few more keys, then began reading out the data "There are three; one's an air hostess, ones part owner in a needlework and craft store and one's..."

"That one."

"Which one?"

"The craft store."

"Lois owns a craft store." Oliver blinked in surprise.

"It's a needlework and craft store and she owns it with her partner." Clark corrected automatically.

"Lois owns a craft store?" He repeated and tried to shake his head clear "Are you sure it's the same Lois that I dated about a hundred years ago."

"Yes." Clark growled annoyed.

"Sorry that just threw me a bit." Oliver told him guiltily.

"I can understand why." AC whispered to him quietly.

Hearing that, Clark flicked him a look "Look she's still Lois. She still has the same sense of humour, the same intolerance for bullshit and the same sarcastic whit but she's not the girl the two of you knew years ago. Hell none of us are the kids we were years ago; so give it a rest ok."

Conceding the point the men nodded sheepishly.

After tapping in the required commands Oliver swung back to him "Ok the trace is running; when the card gets used, I'll let you know."

"Thanks." He turned for the exit but stopped at Bruce's voice.

"Want to talk about it?"

"No, I'm just..." He growled and raked his hands through his hair before swinging around "I'm so goddamn angry."

"What happened buddy?"

"What happened is a whole lot of nothing." He stalked around the room angrily "I told Lois the truth about the night she fell asleep and she didn't get pissed at me for it. We had a good long talk and everything was fine for a few days but then it all started to unravel and now it's messed up."

"Did you tell her how you feel?"

At Oliver's question Clark stopped and rubbed his eyes hard. He tried reminding himself that he wasn't prone to human affliction so didn't get headaches, yet could feel the mother loving bastard snapping at his temples.

"No, I thought that I'd show her instead because women really lap that romance crap up and Lois is no different." He lifted one shoulder and let it drop unhappily "But rather than being swept away by my efforts, she seemed to change almost overnight for the worse."

"Change how?" Bruce nudged in query.

"She became my own personal Stepford girlfriend from the land of what-the-fuck." He snapped bitterly and began to pace around the room as he began to list some the things that had been driving round the bend. "She began to laugh...no worse than that; giggle girlishly even when I didn't say something funny. She became so thoroughly nice and tolerant about everything that it made me want to gag. She began to ply with me all sorts of questions about farming that I knew she didn't give a damn about. Yet even when her eyes were glazing over with boredom, she insisted that she was truly fascinated and urged me to keep yakking on."

Barely pausing in his gripes, he stopped and asked them directly but rhetorically "How in hell is a man supposed to react to that? It may sound great in theory to have a girlfriend who acts like the sun shines out of your ass but it's bloody awful in practice. Yet if I complained, then I'd just sound unreasonable. I didn't want to be around her while she was acting crazy because it wasn't attractive but I knew she wasn't really like that because she never has been; _**ever**_!" He swung around and pointed at Oliver "You dated Lois a million years ago, was she ever like that?"

Oliver pursed his lips but rapidly shook his head.

He swung and pointed to the second man "What about you?"

AC cleared his throat "I only knew her for a couple of days and that was a long time ago so..."

"Answer the question."

"Um she was nice..." At Clark's low rumble he quickly added "She was a pretty straight shooter even then."

His shoulders drooped in defeat "Right but I'm not special enough for her to try and beat into submission. Not that I buckled under but just the fact that she cared enough to think I was worth bothering with so took the time to lecture me about proper behaviour and occasionally give me a piece of her mind was enough and then she just stopped." He scrubbed his hands over his face "The only thing I can conclude from that is she figured out how I felt, so tried to scare me off by acting like a combination of doormat and a mindless doll. I tried to get her mad by cancelling plans at the last minute but it didn't upset her in the slightest and now...well I'm not stupid; I know why she left but..."

"Um Clark..."

At Victor's voice he looked up "Yeah."

"You said that you were trying to show her how you felt; how did you attempt to do that?"

He shrugged disappointed "What I tried didn't work."

"Tell us anyway."

"I took her out to dinner and acted like it was a date. I helped her around the house more, I complimented her cooking, I told her how pretty she looked; hell I even suggested we cuddle while watching sappy girly movies and I enjoyed it." At the disbelief on their faces, he growled "Ok that's a load of lie. Sappy movies aren't my thing and the cuddling damn near killed me since we weren't having sex but I pretended to enjoy it, so that should count for something."

"What'd you mean; you weren't having sex?" Bart clarified slowly.

"Just that, I put on the brakes because I wanted to show Lois we had more than that and figured she'd see it too if I romanced her the old fashioned way, instead of rushing her into bed every chance I got." He shook his head feelingly "Let me tell you something; I was climbing the walls within days so I don't know how those guys in the old days did it for months on end without going nuts." At their expressions, he confirmed steadily "Yeah, I don't recommend trying it."

"But from what everything you've told us the last couple of months, you and Lois seemed to be getting along great. So why would she think that sex was all you wanted." AC queried with wrinkled brow.

"I didn't know if she did think that or not but we both had a pretty cavalier attitude about our relationship in the beginning and I wanted to make up for that, while also showing her that we deserved better than that. I wanted her to see that it wasn't all I wanted from her but she either did and wasn't interested or didn't get the point of it." He sighed heavily and shrugged "All I know is that I failed. Our relationship wasn't enriched by celibacy and because of what happened last night, it's all gone to hell in a hand basket."

"That's the second time you mentioned last night; what happened?" Oliver asked directly.

"I don't want to talk about it." He replied abruptly "Look can you just keep an eye on her account for me?"

"Yeah I'll do that."

"Thanks..."

Oliver held up one finger "Question; did you really want to show Lois how you felt, or were you too scared to put yourself out there and just tell her?"

"Both." Clark's shoulders moved showing his discomfort "I practiced to see how it would sound but..." He paused and asked directly "Have any of you ever told a woman that you love her, without knowing if she felt the same way first?"

At their headshakes, he smiled without amusement "Listen to yourself sometime. If you can say 'I love you' to a woman, without making it sound like you're asking her if she loves you too, it'd be a miracle."

"Well I've gotta agree that it'd be a damned hard thing to say without making it sound like a question." Bruce grimaced in sympathy.

"Mmm, well now she's going to have to face it because after I get done giving her the shaking of her life for leaving me, I'm going to lay it all on the line and I don't care what she says; we're staying together so she'll just have to deal with it."

"Good luck."

"Yeah..." He turned to leave but stopped and swinging round to face them admitted "I can't find her without your help."

The men either nodded hesitantly or their brows wrinkled in doubt, seeing that Clark sighed "I don't know her sisters married name, her dad's not someone a person can contact at any time and I don't know her friends in San Francisco nor their phone numbers; even if I did; they're _her_ friends and family. So I doubt any of them would tell me where she is, if she asks them not to. I don't know her address in San Francisco and there's no guarantee she'll go home anyway so hanging around waiting for her is pointless, especially since Lois spends most of her time on the road because of her job." He held up his hands defeated "On top of all that, this is a big country with millions upon millions of people living all over. A person can disappear in a big city if they want to, or live in a small town and start over. Given that Lois is smart and resourceful, it could be years before I find her if she takes into her head to do something like that so..."

"We'll find her for you Clark." Oliver promised solemnly.

"Thanks, I mean that." He replied sincerely before zipping off.

Once he was safely gone Bart whistled softly "They must have had a hell of a fight if he thinks she's going to try and disappear on him."

Oliver frowned in deliberation "I don't think he's worried about that, I think he just wants to find her ASAP and was trying to explain that having superpowers, doesn't make him omnipotent. We're used to Clark being unstoppable but this is different."

"Yeah, I assumed he could find her using one of his powers and it was only when he explained why he couldn't, that I got it." Victor remarked to no one in particular.

"Same here and I have to figure that Lois has got a few good hours head start on him, or he wouldn't have needed our help at all. I imagine that looking for one woman in a country the size of America without assistance, would be like looking for a needle in a haystack of needles" Oliver summed up neatly.

The men nodded in agreement.

AC looked at them and his brow wrinkled "From what he said, I get the feeling Lois wasn't trying to scare him off but rather show him how she feels too. It sounded to me like they both made a mess of things, not just him." At their concurring replies, he asked simply "Do you think we should have told him that?"

The men looked at each other and shrugged undecided.

"I don't know but I'm also inclined to think Barts right about them having one hell of a fight." Bruce put in thoughtfully "Something obviously happened last night to send Lois running and Clark knows what it is but he's not saying, so it must be pretty personal. They'll work it out but it's not up to us to stick our nose in and maybe make things worse by telling him how she feels, anymore than he'd appreciate us telling her. This is between them."

Figuring he was right the men got back to work and felt silently relieved that they weren't in their friends position.

oOo

_Kent Farm: 1pm_

Wanting to keep occupied with mindless busywork while waiting to hear from the watchtower, Clark stepped into the barn and looked around for something to do. Figuring the place could do with a clean and tidy up, he set to work starting in the loft and working his way down while thoughts of Lois swirled in his head.

If she wanted to him pay him back for saying no for last night, there were other ways she could have gone about it.

If she'd been that pissed off she should have come by the stopped by the farm on her way out of town for the sole purpose of raging at him. At least then they could have had it out but she hadn't even thought he deserved _**that**_ much.

That hurt, that burned, that made him furious.

She'd run from him without a bloody word and that really stuck in his craw, which in turn made him angry at himself for not being aware that she was going to sneak off, which led back to him being angry at her for doing it in the first place and underneath all the emotions boiling inside him, was a sick feeling of panic that he refused to acknowledge, so concentrated on the outrage he was feeling to pretend that it wasn't.

The woman hadn't been back in Smallville for two minutes before she was getting on his nerves and under his skin yet here it was, not three months later and he didn't want to contemplate the rest of his life without her.

She was it for him and if she thought that she was getting away, then she'd better think again.

He'd gotten used to her; used to her pottering around his house, her presence in his life, her voice in his ear, and her body wrapped around his in passion. He was a creature of habit and now that he'd grown this new habit, he had no intention of giving it up.

He needed her and whether Lois wanted to admit it or not, she needed him to. He'd probably have to grab onto her tongue and drag the words out of her but he'd do it. Of course he'd do it a lot quicker if the guys would hurry up and call him. The longer Lois had to stew about everything, the more she'd paint him as the devil and herself as the saint, when in fact it was the other way around and then he'd have a hell of a time trying to get through to her.

She'd listen.

He'd damn well make her listen if he had to strap her to a chair and gag her and then he'd have plenty to say. She wasn't the only one who was pissed. He had quite a few grievances to get off his chest and when he found her, he'd be making them damn well clear.

Stopping to take a deep breath he looked around the barn and nodded satisfied. It was clean, well as clean as a barn could be. However, his tools could really do with a bit of sprucing up. He looked after them sure but he could do more.

Walking over to the bench area he carefully sorted his tools by type and size before giving them a good clean. Then turned his attention to ensuring all the drill bits were in one plastic container, the nails in another, the screws in another and so forth until complete.

Taking a step back, he tilted his head and his brow wrinkled in consideration.

His tools were important and could really use a house of their own instead of being piled in the barn.

Maybe he should build one.

oOo

_2.30pm_

After tucking the last item in place, Clark cast his eyes around his new tool shed and smiled pleased with the results.

There was a place for everything and everything was in its place.

All his tools were now nicely displayed, looked very professional and he wouldn't have to waste time looking for one in particular again.

When he wanted a hammer, well there it was and since all his hammers were now sorted according to size and sitting nicely on their very own hammer board, no time would be lost when he needed to hammer something.

When he wanted a saw, all he had to do was walk on over and pluck the correct one down since all his saws were now cosily tucked into their own little nook, on their very own saw board.

Pulling on his lip, he cocked his head and studied his work bench.

A good work bench was an essential piece of equipment; just as much as the tools themselves and this one had seen better days. It was old and looked a little shabby, especially sitting here in his brand new tool shed.

Maybe he should build a new one...and while he was at it, a new garden shed wouldn't go astray either.

oOo

_3.30pm_

Clark debated whether he should fly around looking for Lois himself but didn't know in which direction to go. He'd already taken a quick zip through a few of the surrounding towns without success but he hadn't expected to find her anyway since she'd clearly left to get away. Given that it was now 4 hours since he'd discovered that she was gone and he didn't know how long before that she'd actually left, by the time he arrived at her place this morning she could have been in another state already and that was assuming she was even driving.

For all he knew, she could have driven as far as Metropolis Airport and hopped a plane to Timbuktu. There was no point in calling the airlines since they'd refuse to give out passenger information and he wouldn't know what airline or flight to ask about anyway.

Yet conversely he'd prefer to know that she had caught a plane, since it would be easier on his nerves to know she wasn't driving.

The day was advancing and he hadn't heard from anyone, which meant she hadn't stopped to use her credit card. But Lois wasn't invulnerable. She was human and required rest just like everyone else. So given that she had to be upset, she could also be distracted enough for her mind to wander when she should be paying attention to the road, which subsequently caused the worry to gnaw at his belly the longer his phone stayed silent.

No, if she was hurt, he'd know it.

Somehow he'd know it.

The only comfort he could take was that she had Attila with her and there was one thing he knew for certain; Lois loved that pooch to death and wouldn't let anything happen to him. So if she was driving she'd be careful and take rest breaks, if only for the dog's sake.

Reassuring himself with those words, Clark pulled his phone out of his pocket, pressed the button for the number he wanted and at the "hello", hunched his shoulders in defence.

"Sorry mom, I was just making sure my phone's working."

He looked over and saw his mother looking back at him from the kitchen window and sent her a brief salute before clicking off and got back to sanding down his new tool bench.

When he was finished, he smoothed his hand over the counter proudly then turned to retrieve the Danish Oil from the shelf. Giving the tin a little shake, he pursed his lips in consideration.

There was about half a tin left but he didn't know how old it was, so maybe he should go and buy a fresh supply from a hardware shop. There was a nice big one in Metropolis but if they didn't have any then he could have a quick look around a few other places and since he was out and about, he could sweep his eyes around just to see if he spotted Lois by chance.

Mollified with that solution, he took off and returned 10 minutes later with a new tin of Danish Oil in his hand and a dark scowl etched on his face.

oOo

_4.30pm_

While filling up the kiddies pool which he'd retrieved and set up on the back lawn in anticipation of Lois and Attila's return, Clark half smiled in recollection at the way the beast had lolled in the water until he was virtually waterlogged.

He hadn't been impressed with the little shit on first acquaintance and the feeling had certainly been mutual but they'd grown to accept each other and become friends over time. They'd had no choice. It was either that or give up Lois and neither of them had been willing to concede the field to the other.

Now they growled and tormented each other for sheer entertainment value; it was their thing.

Turning of the tap when the pool was full, he headed towards the barn to see if there were any improvements he could make to the dog's play centre.

oOo

_5.15pm_

Clark paced around the front garden absently as worry began to consume him. Coming to a halt near the front steps, he sat down and dropped his head in his hands as his thoughts careened from concerned to belligerent and back again.

He'd gone to watchtower before lunch, it was now pushing late afternoon heading rapidly towards evening, yet he hadn't heard a damn word.

If Lois had been on the road all this time, which would explain why she hadn't used her credit card, which is why the guys hadn't called him, then she had to be pretty tired by now, in which case she shouldn't be behind the damn wheel. No one should be because that's when they made stupid mistakes. The very first thing his driving instructor had told him, was to consider everyone else on the road an idiot and if there was an idiot on the road wherever Lois was now, between her tiredness and his idiocy, god only knew what could happen.

He knew she was alright. He had to believe she was alright or he'd go slightly insane.

She had to stop soon. She couldn't drive all day and all night; common sense dictated that much but knowing her, she'd probably do it just to be perverse and prove him wrong.

The little witch was doing this to make him suffer. He was almost tempted to get the name of her shop from Oliver and camp outside it waiting for her return. The only thing stopping him on that front was Lois herself. Frankly he didn't trust her not to have him charged with loitering as payback, then laugh when he was dragged away by the cops, knowing he couldn't resist arrest without giving himself away.

Oh yeah she'd enjoy that. She'd get a real kick out causing him so much trouble and he knew that was true, since he wasn't feeling in a very charitable mood towards her either. Right now it would give him no greater pleasure than to have her dragged down to the local pokey on whatever trumped up charge he could manufacture and then afterwards refuse to bail her out jail.

When he got his hands on her, he was going to set her straight about things and then he as going to establish some ground rules and she'd better damn well promise to keep them or else.

The first was when he called her cell phone, she better damn well answer it.

The second was when he sent her a text message; ditto!

The third was that she didn't go anywhere without him knowing about it first.

The fourth was that she gave him detailed instructions of her itinerary on any travel plans she made and called him when she arrived safely.

The fifth was refer to all the above.

No, forget that; he didn't trust her not to blow him off whenever she was pissed.

For his own peace of mind, he was going to have to find some way to keep track of her, establish a link between them so that he'd be able to find her in a heartbeat, no matter where she was or how far away.

WHERE WAS SHE?

oOo

_Around 6.15 pm_

Martha watched her son pretending to watch the TV, saw him pick up his cell phone for the tenth time in as many times and wondered who he was trying to fool.

She wasn't the naive mother her son thought she was. She was well aware that Clark was far from an innocent when it came to women and it hadn't concerned her, since she knew that when he met the right one, his philandering days would be put behind him. Her Jonathan had been much like that and he'd been the best husband and father a woman could ever ask for.

When she'd first heard the gossip about her son and Lois, she was happy to know Clark was involved with a woman that she knew and one she'd always approved of but honestly hadn't given their relationship any more thought than that. Until she'd heard about the betting going on and that's when she understood it had to be serious.

She'd tried to subtly pump Clark for details on his relationship with Lois but her son had been reticent on supplying them. His distraction and sombre demeanour had attested to the fact that they'd had a falling out but it was when she saw how angry he was at Lois' disappearance, that she also saw just how deeply his emotions were involved. Only the person you truly love could really get under your skin and make you _that_ angry.

She didn't need him to verbalise his love for Lois, she'd seen it; just as she'd seen him change and grow over the years.

Her son was far from the indecisive boy he'd been years ago. He'd grown up and become ruthless; not in heart but in the ways needed to make a success out of working the land. His powers didn't offer him special dispensation from failure. They could only be used to take the labour out of the back breaking work required but he couldn't make the weather do as he wanted. He couldn't make a crop thrive, and he couldn't stop it from being wiped out if nature worked against him. He just had to work it like everyone else and take the good and the bad as it came. It wasn't a profession for the faint of heart or those who called it quits at the first failure. It was a job for the steady, the strong and the determined.

That was how he'd changed. His complete focus and uncompromising faith that he could make a success of farming had soaked into his personality, turning him from an insecure adolescent who questioned himself about everything, into a confident and at times forceful man who didn't give up. But regardless of that, he was still her child and when he hurt, she did too. He hadn't said anything, but she'd watched as he kept himself busy all day and seen the strain on his face deepen as the hours dragged on.

"Sweetie."

When he looked over she wanted to cry at both the pain and anger visible in his eyes "Are you waiting to hear from Lois?"

Clark shook his head "No the watchtower; Oliver set up a tracking on her credit card for me. So when she uses it, someone will call and tell me where she is."

"Can't you find her yourself?"

"No mom, I have a lot of abilities but that one's beyond me." He smiled lopsided "It's just as well really because if I'd been able to catch up with her this morning, I would have given her what for and more than likely she would have told me to go to hell."

"And now?"

"Now..." Clark sighed and looked at his feet "Now I'm worried."

Martha took a seat beside him on the couch "I'm sure she's ok."

He bobbed his head in accord "But I need to see her, I need to know that."

"Do you know why she left so suddenly?"

"Yeah I have a good idea and we'll be talking about that along with a few other things." He told her candidly.

"Do you feel calm enough to talk to her now?" Martha asked gently.

He nodded and began to answer but at the buzz of his phone, he snatched it up and clicked it on "Yeah."

"Clark, her credit card was used about an hour ago..."

"Why the hell didn't you call me?" He interrupted to demand and pushed up from the couch to pace around the lounge room.

"I didn't call you because it was used in a supermarket and Pet Grooming Parlour within half an hour of each other, so thought it would save you time if we could find out what hotel she was staying at. Then you wouldn't have to wait until it was dark to go flying around x-raying all of them looking for her." Oliver replied patiently.

"Oh; well thanks." He replied gratefully "So what have you got?"

"She's in Rock Springs, Wyoming and she's booked into a hotel. She's not staying in the main building but one of the cabins behind it. Do you need to get a pen and paper?"

"No just give me the info." He recited it silently and felt the fist in his stomach unclench slightly at finally having the information he'd been waiting for "Thanks Ollie, I really appreciate your help."

"No problem, but it wasn't just mine so I'll pass it on; good luck."

"Thanks, I'm going to need it." Clicking off he turned to his mom who was standing behind him.

"Should I wait up?"

"No, I don't know how long this is going to take but I won't be home tonight either way; bye mom." He pressed a kiss to her brow and was gone.

"Bye." Seeing that she was speaking to herself, Martha decided that she might just have some dinner and early night.

oOo

Rock Springs, Wyoming: Approx 6.25pm

Stopping high above the hotel, Clark swept his eyes around carefully and spotting Attila fast asleep under a tree, took what felt like his first full breath all day.

The dog was there which meant that Lois was too. Quickly scanning the area to ensure that no one with a pair of binoculars who should be looking at the wildlife in one of the neighbouring parks, wasn't looking where they weren't supposed to and seeing the all clear, zipped down to land on the porch of the cabin.

Raising one hand he knocked on the door but when there was no answer, x-rayed through to find Lois lying down on the couch with her eyes closed and felt his anger begin to slowly burn once more. He'd told his mom that he was worried. He'd told his mom that he just needed to see Lois to feel better. He'd told his mom that he was calm enough to talk; well fuck that.

He'd been sweating all day just waiting to find out where she was. He'd almost gone crazy imagining all the nut-balls and wack-jobs who'd love nothing more than to get their hands on a lone woman for god knows what purpose, and here she was taking a nap!

Holding onto his temper he knocked more loudly a second time and debated about barging in. He was tempted. He was really, really tempted but since there were people milling around the hotel area he didn't want to take the chance of being spotted entering a cabin unlawfully.

Gritting his teeth he knocked a third time and when the door swung open and noted with perverse satisfaction the colour drain from her face. Quickly stepping forward before she could slam it shut, he tugged the door from her hand and smiled without humour when she stumbled back. After taking another step forward he slammed the door at his back and crowding into her personal space, growled "Why the hell did you leave?"

Desperately trying to ignore the pounding of her heart Lois tried for a blasé shrug "It was time."

"It wasn't time! You still had 6 more days." He negated rapidly.

"6 days are neither here nor there so..." She began only to be cut off by his voice whipping over hers.

"Lois, don't push me!" He snapped bitingly "I'm so goddamn angry it's not wise."

She swallowed nervously at the tone in his voice but felt her spine stiffen at his next words.

"I know you left because of what happened last night."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did." He retorted swiftly.

Hating him for bringing up that hideous humiliation, she took a deep breath and replied as placidly as she could manage "Believe what you like."

He saw the buried hurt on her face and softened for a beat before his own feelings took over once more "Were you so upset that you couldn't even talk to me about it before taking off."

Wanting to hit him she stared back defiantly "There was nothing to talk about."

His eyes narrowed dangerously "Yes there damned well was."

She took a deep breath and tried to scoot around him "As I said before it was ti..."

He swung her around and into his arms. One hand grasped her chin forcing her to look him in the eye "If it wasn't that then why did you leave?"

"That's my business not yours."

"I would have thought being your boyfriend would have made it my business." He growled angrily.

"Well you thought wrong." She returned flatly and wished that he'd stop looming over her like a damned giant "We had a fling Clark and now it's over, so why don't you just leave."

"It stopped being a fling a long time ago and you know it." He cupped her face in his palms and bore his eyes into hers "You know it."

"I don't know any such thing."

"Liar!"

At the accusation she glared daggers but refused to respond.

Letting her go before he gave her a good shaking, Clark dug deep in an attempt to hold onto any scrap of patience in his arsenal "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings Lois but that was nothing compared to what you did to me by leaving without saying anything."

Hurt feelings! He actually thought she'd left because he'd hurt her feelings. Fine, she'd let him think that. It was better than giving him the satisfaction of knowing he'd ripped her heart out. The only reason he was here was because his ego couldn't take the fact that _she'd_ walked away. Well fuck him!

He watched the anger tighten her face but not seeing any guilt for the grief that she'd caused him, he ground his teeth and tried again "I came to see you this morning to explain why I turned you down last night..."

"It's not important." She cut in abruptly.

Clark sucked in air through his teeth and prayed for composure. He was making an effort to be understanding. He was at least trying to be civil, which was more than could be said for her and it was starting to get on his wick.

"As I was saying..." He began evenly.

"I'm not interested." She cut him off again.

His teeth snapped together.

Needing some distance, Lois pushed against his chest and scooted to the other side of the room.

"Are you going back to San Francisco?" He asked after a minute of silence.

"None of your business." At his growl and quick step forward, she held up a hand "No, I don't know...possibly." She didn't want him to know where she was going. She just wanted him to leave so that she could break down in private "I'm not really going anywhere."

"So you're going nowhere." He replied coolly "Well you'll be the first person in the history of the world to find that place." When she just stared at him, he asked again "Let's try once more shall we; where are you going?"

"I just said..."

"Where...are...you...going?" He cut her off impatiently.

She shrugged feigning indecision "I was thinking about Hawaii."

"Hawaii?" He asked dryly and when she nodded "Why?"

"No reason."

His lips hitched up mockingly "Oh, I'm sure there's a reason and I'm also sure that I know what that reason is."

She ignored him "I haven't been there in a few years so I thou..."

"Yet all of a sudden you have a yen to see it again huh?" He interrupted to ask sarcastically "So tell me Lois, is Hawaii is far enough away for you to run to baby? What about Alaska? The weather won't be as pleasant but if you make your home with the Eskimos on Little Diomede Island, you'll be so far away from me that you'll almost be in Russia; maybe that would suit you better." He saw the red rush into her cheeks and finished mockingly "Poor Lois, she's thinking of going all the way to Hawaii just to run away from me."

"I'm not running from anything and certainly not from you." She retaliated caustically while silently cursing the tell tale colour she could feel burning her face.

His brow lifted scornfully "If that's true then why didn't you say goodbye?"

"I tried to call you earlier but…."

"Oh yeah, when?" He cut in to ask pleasantly.

"I can't remember the time."

"Well now that's strange since my cell phones been turned on, yet silent all day and what's funny, is that when I called your cell earlier you didn't pick up and I'm still waiting to receive a reply to the text message I sent you." Clark remarked blandly.

"I was going to call you later." She amended swiftly.

"A second ago you tried to call me earlier and now you were going to call me later; which is it?" He asked bitingly.

Lois felt the hole getting bigger under her feet and mentally sent him to perdition "I meant…."

"Don't bother lying babe, you're lousy at it." Clark cut in acidly.

Stung by his words but knowing he was right which is why she preferred the truth, she lifted her chin insolently and glared "Goodbye's are overrated."

"And clearly good manners are too." He commented cuttingly.

At that she burst out laughing but the sound contained no humour.

Trapped in his own hell Clark didn't hear the hysteria in the tone and demanded with a snarl "What's so damn funny?"

Like a light switch her laughter stopped.

"It's all about the ego with you." She bit out contemptuously "What's the matter Clark? Can't your pride take it that I walked away rather than sticking around for more of the same?"

Wanting to break something, preferably her neck for attempting to shift the blame for all their discord onto his shoulders when she was the one at fault, he strode forward until they were almost toe to toe and ground out "What's the matter Lois, are you afraid of actual emotions? Are ties and genuine feelings too much for you to handle?"

At the sneer in his voice, she snapped heatedly "I should be asking you that."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"As if you don't know."

"I don't know." He tossed back angrily.

"Oh yeah..." She mimicked fiercely "Sorry Lois my mom's arriving tomorrow so I won't be able to see you." She snorted again "So how's your mom Clark? Did she arrive home safely or did she have a last minute change of plans?"

"She arrived home just fine." He replied abruptly "And what does my mom have to do with anything?"

Lois stared at him dumbfounded for a beat before giving herself a hard internal shake. Whether he was telling the truth or not didn't change the bottom line. He didn't want the same thing she did. He'd made that abundantly clear for well over a week now and last night was just the final straw.

"Well I'm sure this afternoon I would have gotten another call saying you couldn't make it because you were going out with your buddies, and tomorrow I would have gotten yet another call saying you were busy polishing your putter and..."

"I don't even play golf." He exclaimed hotly.

"Who freaking cares?" She shrieked furiously "I'm not a fucking idiot; I know when I'm being given the brush off."

"You are a fucking idiot if you thought I was giving it to you." He retorted savagely "But I got YOUR message that we were done loud and clear."

"I never sent you any such message." She yelled insulted.

"You sent me more than one and I damned well got them all." He roared back.

"Well I got all of yours." She screamed and burst into tears.

Great heaving sobs racked her frame as all the misery she'd been feeling over the past however many days culminating on the previous night swamped over her.

Clark stumbled back and desperately tried to reassure himself that he was immune to women's tears. He wasn't frightened by them, wasn't fazed by them. Lana had cured him of that by crying every bloody day of her life. He could handle it, he could.

Eyes wide with panic, he pointed one shaky finger and croaked out "Stop that! You stop that right this minute."

Mortally embarrassed, Lois swung around presenting him with her back and waving at the door, wailed "go awayyyyeeee." then proceeded to cry even harder.

Horrified, he leapt forward and swinging her into his arms, settled himself on the couch and held her on his lap. As her tears soaked into his shirt, he murmured soothing nonsense in her ear while mentally flipping through their conversation to make sense of it all.

A minute later he grimaced and shook his head confounded.

Lois thought he'd been giving her the brush off, he'd thought she was doing it to him; shit!

They'd obviously gotten their wires crossed and screwed up pretty badly.

Well enough of that; he was now going to do what he'd intended to do when he went to see her this morning. Tell her the truth and take it from there.

oOo

When the storm of tears had passed, Lois kept her face buried in Clark's neck and felt absolutely mortified for letting him see just how badly she was hurt. Last night he'd ripped her heart in two, today he'd taken what little was left of her dignity and now they were in tatters as well.

She continued silently castigating herself until the words from their argument began to sink into her consciousness. Clark said that he hadn't been giving her the brush off and she wanted to believe him so badly but she was scared. She'd felt unbearably hurt earlier but if she trusted him now and then later discovered he was lying later...

But would a man who was trying to tell her to get lost, spend his time tracking her down? Wouldn't he just be grateful that she'd left quietly, so he wouldn't have to deal with a messy emotional scene?

"Baby, I haven't been trying to dump you, or tell you that we we're over."

At his voice she looked up shyly and swiping a hand over her cheeks, questioned tremblingly "Really?"

"Really."

She swallowed hard at the sincerity in his voice "If that's true, then why did you start breaking dates for no reason other than to go out with your friends and..."

"I didn't break dates to go out drinking with my friends or anything else; I flat out lied about that." He admitted frankly "I broke dates for one of two reasons; to get a reaction out of you or failing that, to get away from you."

Seeing the hurt on her face, he quickly explained "Babe, you seemed to change almost overnight from a fun confident woman, into a clingy needy doormat which is majorly unattractive. I wasn't sure what was going on at first but thought it was likely you were trying to scare me away and since you'd also stopped giving me a hard time about stuff, I figured that had to be it. So I tried to light a fire under you by breaking dates at the last minute hoping you'd yell or tell me off at least but when you didn't, I stayed at home by myself and brooded."

"You hardly ever paid any attention when I gave you a hard time." She mumbled miffed.

"I pay attention, I just didn't always agree." Clark countered frankly "Besides, what I appreciate the most is that when you tell me off, you do it in a direct manner not a whiney or roundabout one and you don't get snotty when I don't jump at your orders." He paused and amended "Well unless it's about something like putting the toilet roll on the holder, then you don't give me any peace until I conform." He grinned at her gurgle of laughter "You're a little shrew Lois but you don't have a spirit of meanness in you and I love that. I realised how much when you stopped bitching at me and I thought it was because you just didn't care enough to waste your time trying to reform me. Your odd behaviour just seemed to reinforce that."

Feeling horrified that her fears of giving him the wrong impression had proven correct, Lois told him in a small voice "I was trying to show you how much I like you."

His brows rose in disbelief "You're kidding?"

"No, I wanted to show you that you were special to me but I didn't know how to do that, so I got some advice."

"Well I hope you didn't pay for it because it was terrible." He replied dryly.

"I think the advice was good but I read so much of it that I kind of got lost between all the do's and don'ts. All I could really remember was to be nice and patient, not to nag and…and a lot of other things but that's where I got confused because it was really tricky. Like it said, do this but stop if he doesn't seem receptive, then try it again because he might not have been in the mood the first time but wait until the opportunity seems right etc. So in the end I decided to just keep doing what I remembered but put my own spin on it to give it extra juice to really capture your attention." She shrugged embarrassed.

"Oh it worked if the intention was to creep me out." He advised bluntly and quickly followed that up by almost pleading "Please get rid of Stepford-Lois, I never want to see that woman again?"

"I hated her too." She cleared her throat and began haltingly "Are you still…do you still…?" And taking a deep breath, rushed out "Are you still attracted to me sexually?"

Her moved her from his lap and sat her on the couch at his side "I haven't had a solid night's sleep in almost 2 weeks because I want you so badly but…."

Her breath hitched at his declaration then her stomach nosedived at his hesitation "But what?"

"I did a lot of thinking last night, along with a lot of talking to myself and for every argument I had on the pro side of the equation, I had a counter one on the con side. However, some time during the night I must have made up my mind because I woke up with the decision already made. That's not to say I was happy about it because I wasn't. So I used the time while driving back and forth to the Metropolis Airport to come to terms with it and then I went to your place to lay all my cards on the table this morning."

At the graveness in his tone, she silently wondered how bad this was going to be. But at his next words, her tummy trembled with both nerves and excitement.

Holding her eyes captive he told her simply "I love you Lois."

"You do."

"I do." He confirmed steadily "The reason I put the brakes on our love life was because I wanted you to fall in love with me, not for what I could do for you in bed." When her mouth opened, he pressed one finger against her lips to stay any comments "I know you're not a child Lo but sex can impair the judgement of even the most experienced individual and I wanted to build on what we already had, not cloud the issue with it." He smiled lopsided "However, celibacy doesn't appear to be your thing anymore than it's mine and last night I thought the reason you pushed the issue was because you missed it, not because you missed being with me. It nearly killed me to turn you down babe but I wasn't about to compromise how I felt for momentary physical satisfaction." He smoothed one finger over her brow "But this morning, I was prepared to accept less than what I wanted, as long as I got you in exchange."

"This morning; have you changed your mind?" She asked worried that her flight had ruined things.

"Yeah." Clark rubbed the side of his face and admitted softly "I told you what I was willing to accept but I know myself well enough to know, that I wouldn't have kept to it. I'll never be satisfied with less than a commitment from you babe. I'll harass you day and night until you give in, so you might as well know it now." At her soft snort, he shrugged unapologetically "I could try and pretty it up, make it sound more romantic but the bottom line won't change."

Smoothing the hair away from her face, he nudged gently "How do you feel about me?" At the fear in her eyes, he pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth "You said that you were trying to show me how much you like me; why?"

She wanted to tell him but the words wouldn't come. Showing him had been a lot easier. She could do that, she'd be happy to do that but saying the words; getting them past the blockage in her throat was impossible.

Picking up her hand, he linked their fingers together and brought it to his lips "I can see the answer in your eyes but I want to hear the words." She swallowed hard but couldn't respond. Cupping her face in his palms he whispered again "Tell me."

"I..." She cleared her throat and tried again "I…lo...I'm better with showing."

"I want to hear the words." He repeated "I know you're scared, I am too but god Lois I'm more afraid to be without you, than I am of loving you and putting my heart in your hands." He saw the tears in her eyes and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life, than when I found that you'd packed up and left." He shrugged and grimaced lightly "My emotions today have been all over the map but the one that's dominating right now is fear."

She licked her lips and questioned softly "Fear?"

He nodded sombrely.

"Why?"

"Because I need you Lois and the thought that you don't feel the same need for me is terrifying." He whispered achingly.

Her mouth opened but no words came out. She didn't know what was wrong. It had been easy to say it to others and they hadn't been anywhere near as important. Yet now when it mattered she couldn't seem to get enough spit in her mouth to form words. He was going to leave; she was going to lose him because of her inability to let go of her own fears and closing her eyes in defeat, she felt herself begin to crumble inside.

When a tear slipped from the corner of her eye, he wiped it away with his thumb "Before you returned to Smallville I never felt unfulfilled. Never felt like anything was missing and I wasn't lonely but without you the rest of my life will be so lousy." He took a deep breath and laid himself open to her "You're the essence of everything I used to long for babe; the elusive true love that most people dream about but only a very few lucky people manage to find. I can't live without it now that I've found it and that's why I came after you."

Her chin wobbled and her mouth shook.

"Say it." He asked quietly. When she remained silent, he rested his forehead on hers and holding her eyes captive, growled pleadingly "God baby, please say it."

The almost snarling demand in his voice loosened the nerves in her tummy and taking a deep breath she told him fumblingly "I...I...I love you."

The words barely left her mouth before his lips swooped down and locked with hers in long deep kiss.

When he let her up for air, Lois threw her arms around his neck in a laughing sob and clutching onto him with all her might, pushed him down onto the couch and buried her face in his neck.

Uncaring of time they lay quietly for a while but at the squeaky bark, looked over to find Attila surveying them with head cocked in curiosity.

Reaching out, Clark stroked one hand over the animal's back "Hey buddy, did you miss me?"

Jumping up on the couch, the animal licked Clark's face enthusiastically before jumping down to run around the room in happy circles woofing all the while.

With a laugh they looked at each other before Clark leant down and pressed his lips to hers.

"Yuk."

With a mischievous grin he deliberately rubbed his cheek against hers before lifting his head and winking "We share everything from now on, even dog spit."

Giggling, Lois swiped her hand over his cheek and when Attila raced over to lick her face, she happily let him before pulling Clark down to share it with him.


	15. Chapter 15

Hi everyone

Firstly; thank you all for the feedback and the continued support of this story; it's very much cherished and appreciated.

Secondly; I once again apologise for the delay. After my sister proofed the chapter fo me, I had the brilliant idea of changing the tone of one scene, just one bloody scene yet it took me a further 4 weeks to get it right; grrr. Unfortunately, it's that time of year where works a total nightmare, so by the weekend I was just too tired to do anything but stare at the computer uselessly. Given that I only write on the weekends and I'm not a fast writer to begin with (not to mention completely anal about the details) well...

Maybe this will teach me to leave well enough alone in future (actually it won't, I know myself too well, lol).

Anyway, here is the next chapter at last and as usual; it's long.

I hope you all enjoy it.

Linda

oOo

**26****th**** August **– _Rock Springs, Wyoming: Same day approx 9pm_

Sitting up in bed semi-draped over Clark, Lois wiggled richly in contentment as his lips slid down the column of her neck "Can you pass me my cell phone please."

"Hmm." Reaching backwards, he tapped around until he located the object on the bedside table and handed it over "Who are you calling?"

"No one."

"Then what do you want the phone for?" He murmured and nudging her chin aside with his head, pressed his lips into the crook of her neck and shoulder.

"No reason." She actually wanted to see the message he'd sent. Since she'd turned her phone off, she hadn't even known Clark had called her until he mentioned it earlier; not that she would have answered after seeing his name on the screen anyway. However, that was before she knew how he felt and now her curiosity was burning.

Her brows rose as the number of messages she had popped up. Her lips curved when she saw they were all from the man currently causing shivers to race down her spine "I thought you only sent me one message."

"I might have sent you a few." He returned absently as his lips continued to explore the side of her neck.

Opening the first message she read out loud "Why did you leave?" and smacked him on the arm in retaliation "I can't believe you asked me that." Ignoring his fake cry of pain, she clicked open the second one and snickered at reading, "Where the hell are you?" With a huge grin she moved onto the next one, read "Answer me!" and began to giggle, then shake at the next message "Answer your bloody phone!" Clark chuckled against her neck then let out a bark of laughter at hearing his next message "What the fuck are you playing at?" Almost doubled over, Lois opened the next one "Get your ass back here!" and moving onto the last, read in a voice that wobbled the one word message, "Please!" before dropping the phone on the bed and collapsing against him screaming with laughter.

While Lois continued to howl, Clark's lips pursed in thought. At the time he hadn't really given any thought to how his messages would be received but hearing them now, he didn't suppose yelling was the right way to go about coaxing a woman back into his arms. Ah well, it was too late to plead temporary insanity….then again, maybe it wasn't.

Calming down several minutes later, Lois wiped the tears from her cheeks and asked primly "Exactly what message did you think was going to work?"

"Well...maybe the one where I said please." He held out one hand in appeal.

Cupping his jaw, she leant forward and pressed smiling lips to his "My prince."

"I can be even more charming than that." He promised with a flashing smile "How many times have I now compensated us for the lack of sex over the last two weeks?"

Giggling, she held up two fingers in reply.

"Oh c'mon, the second time was really long; it almost counts for double points on its own." He retorted disgruntled.

"The score is only two." She returned precisely.

He sat up higher in determination "Well then I'm giving you notice that I intend to make restitution at least once more before I let you out of this bed." Tapping the hand sitting on his chest, he informed her gravely "If you felt me up instead of just letting your hand sit idle, I'm sure that I could make good on my word a lot sooner."

Nodding soberly but with a smile in her eyes, Lois faithfully did as instructed; running her hand over his chest and abdomen, trailing fingertips down to his belly button then lower. At his low purring growl, she cupped him gently before smoothing her hand back up, causing him to eyeball her in disappointment "Tease."

Laughing huskily, she pressed her lips to the side of his neck "Later."

"Why don't you slip into the outfit you wore last night and I'll show you how much I really loved it." He pressed a kiss to her ear and smiled in expectation.

"I threw it away."

"What? Are you kidding? Where did you throw it? Is it in the rubbish bin at the Murphy house because I'll go now and get it?" He shot out rapidly in alarm. At her grimace, he frowned annoyed "Why would you throw away a perfectly good trashy outfit like that?"

"Because I was feeling crummy and I thought you didn't like it and I didn't want to see it again, so I chucked it out." She retorted in a like manner.

He grumbled and muttered under his breath "What were you wearing under it?"

"What am I wearing now?"

He peeled back the sheet she had tucked over herself and swept his up eyes down, then up then down and up once more "Nothing."

"Right, and that's what I was wearing under it."

He shook his head unhappily "I knew you were naked, I just knew it."

"I'll buy another one."

He flicked his eyes at her distrustfully "Will it be just as slutty?"

"Yep."

"Promise?"

"Mmm hmm."

Feeling considerably cheered he pressed a kiss to the top of her head "Thanks."

"Huh." She sniffed loudly in disgust "I'm not interested in your thanks right now buster. It cost me a bundle to look that trampy, and now I'm going to be forking over more money to do it again. So the next time I tart myself up like cheap floozy just for you, I expect to be treated as such; you hear?"

"I hear and will obey" He promised solemnly before proposing eagerly "But instead of playing the vamp, next time you should act all insolent and brazen with a touch of scornful thrown in."

Intrigued, curious, her brow wrinkled in query "Why?"

"So that I have reason to be all surly and push you around..." Clark smiled at her entranced "We could pretend to be characters out of an old gangster movie; I'll be the bad guy and you can be my moll. Just imagine how hot it will be if we're being nasty to each other, while doing the nasty."

Giggling, she licked her lips in anticipation "Ok, but as the bad guy you have to growl and tell me to shut up when I talk back."

"You don't have to tell me twice." He reassured with unflattering promptness.

Lois stuck out her tongue then quickly stipulated "And you have to throw me down on the bed."

"Consider it done." He swiftly promised and crossed his heart for good measure.

Laughing she hugged his arm "It's really fun playing pretend don't you think?"

"I love playing pretend with you." He told her truthfully.

"Me too." She hesitated for a beat before admitting somewhat bashfully "I've never played it with anyone else."

"Nether have I." He admitted unashamed.

"So it's our thing then?"

"Yep; it's our thing." He agreed with a big smile and laced their fingers together.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she sighed in absolute bliss only to frown a moment later when Clark casually remarked "Mom talked about you a lot on the way home from the airport. I think she was disappointed not to see you."

"I doubt she feels very favourably towards me after I upset her son." Lois mumbled inaudibly against his shoulder.

"Pffft"

Her head lifted in surprise "What does that mean?"

"That means she's a woman; so she'll probably take your side for that reason alone." He returned dryly.

"Well now that you mention it, I have found that most people with a double X chromosome are extraordinarily intelligent, while those with a Y are usually lacking." She retorted loftily and grinned at his sneer "Anyway speaking of your mom, I think you should start wearing the costume she made for you."

His screwed up his face and patted her hip companionably "Baby I hate that thing, I look like an ass."

"I thought you looked great."

"How would you know? Your eyes never lifted any higher than my groin." He accused darkly.

"Yes they did, I ogled your legs and chest too." She grinned unashamed "But…." Reaching out, she grabbed his t-shirt from the end of the bed and tugged it on before sitting up to face him fully "But you need to do something about your face."

"What's wrong with my face?" He asked perplexed and rubbed his jaw with one hand, while tugging her back to his side with the other.

"I mean if you're going to appear in public..."

Clark groaned and covered his eyes "So you don't want me to wear the suit just for your titillation, but to make an exhibition of myself by prancing around in public with it on too?"

"Did you really think I meant for you to only wear it in the bedroom to give me a cheap thrill?" She asked shaking silently with laughter.

"I was hoping that's what you meant since we both like playing pretend." He mumbled dejectedly.

"Well it's not but I do want you to do that that too." When his eyes glowed, she held up a hand "Hold that thought; for now let's get back to you appearing in public." He threw his head back and moaned theatrically, she simply ignored him and continued "You'll need to at least partially cover your face if you don't want people to recognise you." She tapped her lips in contemplation "Maybe you could wear a mask."

"I don't need to wear a mask because I'm not wearing the suit." He tossed in firmly.

Capturing his chin, she turned his head this way and that "Why the hell don't you wear glasses at least?"

"Why would I wear glasses when I don't need them?" He asked logically.

"Never mind, I'll think of something." She growled impatiently.

"You don't need to think of anything because I'm not wearing the suit." He repeated solidly.

Taking no notice of his objections, she eyeballed him closely for a minute before clicking her fingers "I've got it..." She declared triumphantly amazed at her own genius "As Clark Kent you'll be yourself but when you're in the suit, all you need to do is don a pair of glasses, slick your hair back and act kind of like a dork. Then no one will think the new superhero and you, are the same person."

"You want me to pretend to be a goofball in public?" He asked slowly.

"Well yeah, but only when you're wearing the suit..." At the look on his face, she rushed in to butter him up by praising generously "...and I'll bet you'll look fantastically hot doing it too. Plus as an added bonus, you'll be doing a huuuuge favour to all the nerds worldwide; so what'd you think?" Unable to speak, Clark simply shook his head flabbergasted. Lois rolled her eyes and exhaled loudly in exasperation "Fine, well I'm willing to give a little; so how about you be a combination of dweeb and someone really cool like...hmm, maybe Batman but not so dark because you wouldn't be able to pull that off..." She paused for a beat before adding "...then again with that scowl on your face, you're not doing too bad."

Figuring the only way to derail her train of thought about his superhero future was to give her something else to think about, he captured her mouth with his in a swift kiss, tugged the t-shirt over her head and ignoring her squeals, dragged her down to make good on his word once more.

Feeling deliciously replete sometime later, Lois stretched like a lazy cat, rubbed his leg with her foot in a contented manner and rolled on top to lock her mouth to his for a long deep kiss.

Humming in anticipation Clark smiled eagerly when their lips parted, only to have his hopes dashed, when she climbed off and out of bed.

"Hey where are you going?"

Picking up his t-shirt from where he'd tossed it on the floor, she slipped it on and thumbed towards the door "We've been holed up in here for over 2 hours now and I want to check on Attila. I barely had time to dish up his food before you carried me in here, so I want to make sure that he's alright."

"Why wouldn't he be alright?"

"Well he's been fidgety since we left Smallville..."

"I've been fidgety since you left Smallville." He grumbled low voiced.

"I think that I've cured what ailed you multiple times now."

"Maybe so but still..." Likewise climbing out of bed, he tugged on his jeans "I bet the little shits fast asleep."

Laughing lightly she pulled open the door and Attila, who'd planted himself outside it, sat up and let out a soft noise of greeting. Picking up the beast, she pressed a kiss to his head and turned to Clark "You were saying?"

Sneering at that, he took the dog from her and informed the mutt cheerfully "Don't worry boy; you'll soon be home where you belong."

Attila ruffed joyfully and wagged his tail with enthusiasm.

"Hah! I knew it." Bringing the animal to eye level, he pronounced emphatically "YOU LIKE ME!"

In return, the dog growled and revealed his teeth.

"It's too late pal you've given yourself away now; I know that you like me." He taunted in a sing-song manner "

Scrabbling frantically to plant his paws on Clark's shoulders, Attila growled again then began to bark in a miffed manner at the mocking laugh he received in return.

"Are you hungry?" At the non-response Lois shook her head and tapped Clark on the arm "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat."

Unable to recall what she'd purchased at the supermarket earlier, she walked into the kitchenette and after a swift overview of the contents sitting on the bench top and in the fridge, announced "Ok, well we've got the makings for sandwiches, soft drinks, potato chips and ice cream but if you want anything more substantial then we'll have to go out and get it."

Putting the beast down he folded his arms and announced militantly "We're not leaving this cabin. We're going to eat dinner, have a shower and then we're going back to bed. We can either go to sleep straight away, or we go at it like rabbits until we pass out from exhaustion but when you fall asleep tonight, I'm going to be right there at your side and I'm not budging until morning."

"Alright but..."

"But nothing..." Clark glowered and stomping over, caged her in against the fridge "I'm not putting up with anymore of your nonsense. From now on we sleep together."

"I was going to say that's fine but if you wake up before, try not to think." She finished patiently.

"Why?"

"Because I'll hear you."

His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree "You're my dream woman, you really and truly are."

"How so?" Lois laughed in delight.

"Well I subscribe to the theory that if a day starts of bad, it only gets worse but if starts of good, it only gets better." Clark informed her cheerfully.

"Uh huh...and so?" She asked cautiously.

Leaning forward he whispered seductively "So I'm going to make sure that I always wake up first and while you're still sleeping, I'll deliberately think lots of hot sexy thoughts to get your motor running. Then when you're nicely revved up, I'll climb aboard for a quickie first thing and kick every day off with style from now on."

Knowing he probably would do that, she licked her lips in anticipation.

oOo

_20 minutes later_

Lois took a bite from her sandwich and while chewing slowly, glanced at Clark then Attila and noting both males were wolfing down their food with the same voraciousness, shook her head. Men!

Wondering what the headshake was for, Clark shoved the last of his sandwich in his mouth with one hand, while reaching for the bag of potato chips with the other "What?"

"Nothing." Knowing that she wouldn't get any chips if she didn't act fast, she quickly scooped out a few and dumped them on her plate "Um...before I forget to mention it; remind me to call Roy in the morning to ask him if I can stay on at the Murphy house for a little bit longer."

He stopped eating to stare "What about the farm."

"You're moms at the farm."

"So?"

"So I'm not having sex with your mom in the house." Lois replied plainly.

Clark sighed hugely but bobbed his head in accord "Fine, we'll start house hunting when we get back to Smallville."

"What's wrong with the Murphy place?" She frowned confused.

"The Murphy's own it, so we have to find somewhere else." He replied patiently.

"Well it will do for now." She cleared her throat before mentioning somewhat bashfully "I mean it will do for now if I'm moving to Smallville for good."

"You are." He stated flatly.

"You haven't even asked me." She grouched pointedly.

"I just said we had to go house hunting." He returned tetchily.

Figuring that was as close to him actually asking her to stay in Smallville as she was likely to get, she refrained from smacking him upside the head and got back to the matter at hand "Ok, well at some point I still need to go back to San Francisco for a bit."

"What for?"

"Because all my things are there, so I have to pack them up and make arrangements for them to be shipped."

"One of the things you need to arrange is for someone else to travel all over the country visiting the artists and buyers." She looked at him with one brow raised haughtily, he simply stared back in return "I want you at home with me, not on the road two weeks out of every month."

As she didn't want to spend so much time away from him either, Lois gave it up and nodded in agreement.

Bringing the conversation full circle, he rounded out "Since you only took the Murphy place until the end of September, we'll ask Roy if it's still available. If it is then we'll stay there, if it's not we'll find somewhere else with a short term lease to cover the interim period until we find a house that suits us both; agreed?"

"Agreed." Her brow wrinkled in thought "Are you sure that you want to leave the farm though?"

"You're leaving San Francisco to live in Smallville with me babe, I think that I can move out of the farm without any problem." He replied without hesitation "On top of that, I don't need to live at the farm to work it, so I'm not losing anything."

With a wide smile she took another bite of her sandwich then almost coughed it back out when he unexpectedly asked "So are you going to marry me!"

Holding up a hand to stop his helpful patting on her back, Lois silently wondered just who was more crazy. The silver tongued devil sitting opposite, who thought he could get away with asking for her hand in that sloppy fashion, or herself for being amused by his deplorable offer, yet touched that he hadn't practiced to get the words just right as his lack of finesse attested.

Nevertheless, deciding it was time to make him squirm for a change, she deliberately chewed her food extra slowly until it was all gone, then picked up her drink and took a big sip before putting the glass back down.

Clark waited for her to say something but when she simply reached for a napkin to wipe her hands without speaking, he muttered under his breath and tossed down the bag of potato chips "Well?"

"Well what?" She asked placidly.

"I'm waiting for an answer." He growled bad tempered.

"Oh I'm sorry, was that an actual question?" She asked sweetly "Silly me, I thought..."

"It was a proposal as if you didn't know." He interjected irate.

"...that you were just making idle conversation." She finished as if he hadn't interrupted.

"You thought nothing of the sort." He came back rapidly.

She stared at him, he stared back.

Trying to ignore the nerves riddling his stomach, Clark leant forward in his seat, stuck his face closer to hers and barked a second time "Well?"

Refusing to nudge him into proposing properly, Lois harrumphed emphatically before setting her lips into a mutinous line but opened her eyes wide, hoping he'd take the hint.

Exhaling noisily in exasperation, his stare became a glare "Look, I don't know if you're aware of this but when a man proposes to a woman, it's generally considered good form for the lady to put the poor bastard out of his misery by answering."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, it also wouldn't hurt if she squealed in excitement and threw herself into his arms." He sniped meaningfully.

When she simply crossed her arms and tapped her foot, he muttered moodily "Clearly that's not going to happen here." Sucking in air through his nose, Clark reminded himself that women were unpredictable creatures at the best of times and figuring it was time for a little cajolery, began to speak in a more soothing manner "Sweetheart, I don't mean to push you but it would be nice to get….."

"Don't mean to push me!" Lois burst out with a rude crack of laughter "If that's not the biggest load of tripe I've ever heard in my life. You've been pushing me from the first day I met you again."

"Rubbish!" He repudiated swiftly "I simply enticed..."

"Pushed!" She tossed in speedily.

"Tempted..."

"Pushed!"

"Coaxed..."

"Pushed!"

"Damn it Lois! Will you let me finish one damn sentence?" Clenching his teeth, he breathed deeply and started again "I didn't push you, I encouraged you..." At her loud snort, his eyes narrowed "...and I had every intention..."

"You pushed!" She butted in mulishly.

"Fine; I pushed." He conceded in a voice of long suffering. "What was I supposed to do? You're so bloody obstinate that I had to push but I also gave you plenty of room to..."

"You haven't given me any room." She announced scrappily.

Goaded beyond endurance, he retorted flatly "That's because you're an outrageous flirt."

"A what...I'm a what!" Lois fired up and shoving back her chair, stood up to lean forward over the table.

"A flirt!" Clark repeated loudly and likewise getting to his feet mirrored her stance "F...L...I...R...T; you're a flirt."

"I am not." She retorted offended.

"Oh yeah…." He flicked up the first finger "You had a coffee date with Dean."

"That was ages ago and there was no flirting involved." She waved a hand dismissively.

He ignored that and flipped the second finger up "You had a coffee date with Neil."

"I _was_ having one when you decided to join us, and once again there was no flirting."

He grunted and flipped a third finger "You batted your eyes and cooed at him when he joined us for lunch at the Talon."

She planted her hands on her hips and stuck out her chin "Firstly what was that grunt for and secondly I did not."

"The grunt is self explanatory and yes you did." Clark retorted and raised his voice in a falsetto of hers "Oh Neil, you're such a gentleman and you're so big and strong compared to little old me; giggle, giggle, giggle."

Her mouth fell open before snapping closed "I have never acted like that in my entire life."

"From my side of the fence you did." He returned crisply "Why do you think I interrupted your coffee date with him in the first place?"

"Because you were pissed that I didn't tamely submit to your order not to date anyone else, that's why." She returned briskly.

"Putting a spoke in your dating wheel was only a side benefit of the real reason." He admitted freely.

Her eyes narrowed "Oh yeah, and what was that?"

"That was two fold." He informed her frankly "The first was to save myself the aggravation of having to track you down if you went on any more dates, and the second was to save myself from having to blacken the eyes of my friends, before I tossed you over my shoulder and carried you home."

"I…carry me….you…you…" She sputtered out uselessly.

"What are you so surprised about? I pretty much told you that after I kissed you outside the Talon on the day our relationship became public, remember?"

"You fibber!" She pounced on that like a cat "You didn't say that at all and..."

Clark only had time for one thought, oh shit, she's right; before he began to rack his brain for another reason. Knowing if he didn't get there first, she'd fill her head with a bunch of silly ideas only a woman could dream up, he tossed out swiftly "I believe in long range planning."

"Long range planning my foot." Lois decried bluntly and drilling her finger into his chest, accused "You just wanted to curtail my social life, while feeling free to tomcat around yourself; admit it you sexist pig."

"The only woman I've tomcatted with since you returned is you."

"Piffle!" She snorted vulgarly "Don't think I've forgotten you went on a date with some cheap trollop that you no doubt picked up from the gutter."

"I told you we only kissed." He jumped in speedily

"Huh!"

Unable to mistake the jealousy in the one word scoff, he mentally did a little boogie before admitting disarmingly "If you must know the truth, I didn't like the idea of you seeing anyone but me and the reason my date was lousy, was because I couldn't stop thinking about you."

Lois instantly turned to mush and her smile bloomed "Truly?"

"Yes truly." He confirmed then counter accused "But I bet that given half a chance, you would have continued dating other men."

"How could I do that when no one asked me?" She replied easily.

"Neil asked you out right in front of me remember."

"Uh huh and I also remember he wasn't serious, just paying you back for horning in on my coffee date with him." She returned drolly.

"I like the way you very neatly avoided answering the question." Clark retorted smoothly.

"I haven't avoided anything." Lois replied hurriedly and felt the flush begin to creep up her neck at being caught out.

"Really, well I'm all ears so tell me…." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes "Would you have continued dating, if I hadn't gotten you to agree that we were exclusive?"

Knowing he wasn't going to quit until he got an answer, she brought her hand up to examine her nails and unwillingly nodded.

"Speak up baby, I can't hear you."

"Yes." She replied nettled.

"Just as I thought." He grunted in annoyance and muttered darkly "You had the bad taste to date AC and Oliver."

"What...who?" She questioned and threw up her hands in bewilderment "I don't even know anyone by those names."

He rubbed his jaw and shrugged uneasily "It was a little bit ago."

Figuring he actually meant that it was a loooong time ago, she swiftly flipped through her mental files and jeered incredulous when the light clicked on "You've gotta be joking! That was a million years ago."

"It still counts and it's not like you were interested in me back then." He complained huffily.

"Of course not, you were a dickhead." She retorted swiftly.

He shot her an insulted look and began to mutter under his breath then stopped short at her next words.

"But speaking of bad taste, do you really want to go there given _your_ choice in girlfriends once upon a time?" Lois poked him in the chest then rubbed her hands with relish "If so, I can be at this all day without stopping."

Backing away from that topic like greased lightning, Clark blustered sullenly "Don't try and distract me." Ignoring her smirk, he decided it was time to get back to the recent history of his gripes "You danced with Andrew Collett, Sy Tan, Michael Oberle, Keith Fuller…."

"Everyone was switching partners at the dance, including YOU." She stressed pointedly.

He ignored that and kept going "You also danced with Ira Newkirk, Tim Watson, George Dixon, Merv Chesney, Leo Turner…."

She laughed royally amused "Oh please, now you're really reaching. All those men are happily married and four of them have to be pushing 60 at least."

"That only proves that even men in their dotage aren't safe from you." He retorted smoothly.

Unable to think of a comeback good enough, she folded her arms and huffed.

Smirking at her lack of response, he stepped around the table and hooking an arm around her waist, gave her bottom a companionable pat of affection "It's just as well that I put a stop to all your nonsense, by metaphorically slapping 'taken' stickers all over your sweet little butt."

"What?" She yelped outraged "You did not!"

"Yeah baby I did!" His smiled amused "How do you think Neil knew we were together and you were out of bounds, without me having to say one damn word."

Lois goggled at him with mouth agape.

Seeing that he'd finally managed to shut her up, Clark mentally patted himself on the back in congratulation and hummed cheerfully in victory.

oOo

_Approx 10.30pm_

At Lois' third yawn in as many minutes, Clark reached for the remote and turned the TV off then gave her a gentle shake "Babe, I have to go home and get some things but I'll be back in about 10 minutes ok."

"Hmm."

At her sleepy murmur he pressed his lips to the top of her head "If I don't go now, I won't go at all and I need some stuff for tomorrow."

"What'd you need?"

"Some clothes, toiletries and the like."

"Ok."

"Don't go to sleep."

She smiled at him tiredly "I didn't get any sleep last night and..." She broke off to press a hand against her mouth to yawn hugely "...and now it's catching up to me, so you'd better hurry."

As he zipped off, she made her way to the bedroom and had just slipped into bed when he returned.

Swiftly undressing he joined her under the covers, switched of the bedside light and scooping an arm around her waist, pulled her into the curve of his side then frowned at the feel the silk under his hand instead of skin "Let's get this off."

Lois groaned and buried her head harder in the pillow "Leave me alone."

"C'mon." Hoisting her up, he slipped off the nightdress and tugged off her panties before lying down spooned around her. Sighing in delight, he skimmed one hand down her torso to rub then up to rub lazily over her breasts "Hmm, that's better."

"Sorry but I'm too tired." She replied around a yawn.

He pressed his face into her hair and yawned in return "Me too, I just wanted to cop a feel."

Laughing sleepily, she simply shook her head "Night."

"How long's it been since you last slept with someone?" He asked softly.

"Shhh."

He jiggled her arm gently "C'mon, how long?"

"A little over two years."

Feeling incredibly chuffed at hearing her say it again, Clark cuddled her closer and pressing a kiss against her ear, whispered "So I'm the first man who's managed to get you into bed in two years huh; well gee I don't know what to say. This is such an honour?"

"Hmm." Lois hummed sleepily and fuzzily puzzled over the smug tone in his voice. Her brow wrinkled as her mind sluggishly put the pieces together before smoothing out in understanding. Switching on the bedside light, she turned to him with eyes dancing with laughter and wasn't surprised to see a look of self-satisfaction on his face.

Feeling incredibly good, he smiled back and asked indulgently "What?"

"You were talking about actual sleeping, right?"

"No; were you?" He asked cautiously.

"Mmm hmm."

His brow lowered "I was using the term 'sleeping with' as a euphemism for sex, since that's the way most people use it."

"Ohhhh…" She drawled amused then added "Well no."

"No." He repeated tentatively.

"No." She confirmed and bit her lip to hold back the giggles.

Hoping he simply misunderstood, Clark clarified slowly "So when you say that you haven't slept with anyone in two years, you're not saying that you haven't done the deed with some creep in two years, just that you didn't actually sleep with him afterwards, is that right?"

Deciding that it wasn't the time to get into a discussion about the man in question, she simply nodded "Right."

"Then I'm not the only man you've…" He floundered looking for a word that fit.

"Done." She supplied helpfully.

He glared and finished "….in the last two years."

She shook her head in response.

"So how long was it before me then?"

"How long was it for you before me?" She countered rapidly.

"It was almost four months for me and that covers both sleeping and sex." His brow flew up inquisitively "And you?"

"This is dumb." Lois replied hastily "It's not a competition or anything so who cares." Swiftly pressing a kiss to his lips, she closed her eyes tight "Night."

"Not so fast." Clark declared ominously.

Popping one eye open, she found both of his were zeroed in on her "Um, did you want something dearest?"

"Don't think you're going to distract me with endearments."

"No darling."

His lips quivered but were quickly suppressed "If it was a competition, who'd win?"

"Not you." She murmured and when his mouth dropped open, cleared her throat noisily "Sorry, something in my throat."

"Maybe you're having a tough time swallowing my ego, after taking such a huge chunk out of it?" Clark replied solicitously.

Pressing down the chuckle that wanted to escape, Lois bit her lip and smiled sheepishly.

"So I lost but by how much?" His eyes narrowed interrogatively "It was four months for me, how long was it for you; three months?" At the discomfort on her face, he asked slowly "Two?"

Giving up, she scooted under the covers a tad more and poked up one finger carefully.

"One month! You slept…." At her teeny weeny headshake, he glowered "One week!"

A laugh tickled out "Well technically it was six days."

"Six days!" He sat up and bellowed "You did it with some slimy toad only six days before meeting me?"

"Again; before meeting you again and the operative word in that sentence is _**before**_." Lois stressed pointedly "And anyway he wasn't a creep…." At the low rumble issuing from his throat, she broke off and reminded him piously "But you dated some skank _**after**_ we were involved."

"She wasn't a skank and nothing happened and I told you why." He howled at the unfairness of it all.

"But the intention was there, which is why you went on a date in the first place and although nothing happened, I'll bet it wasn't from a lack of trying first; correct?" She asked pleasantly.

Bloody woman, Clark muttered silently.

The guilt on his face was unmistakeable, causing her to smirk rudely at knowing she'd very neatly boxed him in.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye and deciding it would be better not to enquire any further into her activities, in case she turned the conversation around to enquire about his and once again hit the bullseye, he threw in towel and lay back down.

However still feeling a little put out that she beat him, he mused gloomily "Six days….really?"

"Mmm; are you ok about it?"

"Yeah; I haven't lived like of a monk…"

"Far from it." She tossed in causing him to flash out a huge smile "And I knew that you were no nun…"

Lois snickered "Not even close."

"And since we were both knew that about each other already, I'm not going to make an issue of it now." He summed up neatly

"Me either."

"But, it's probably best if we don't talk about our past love lives anymore. I'm not a masochist, so prefer ignorance to disclosure on that front." He tacked on after a beat of silence.

"You're the one who brought it up." She reminded him mischievously.

"That's because I thought it had been two years for you and wanted to hear you say it again." He mumbled embarrassed "Then when you said it wasn't, like any fool who's into self torture I had to know."

Letting out a peal of laughter she patted his chest in comfort "Well I agree that from now on we should just leave all in the past that where it belongs and close the door on it."

"Me too."

Grinning they shook hands and switching of the light, Clark curled around her "I'd totally win if we were talking about actually sleeping with the person, after getting some action with them right?"

"Totally." She reassured earnestly.

"Well ok then." More than satisfied, he kissed the side of her mouth before closing his eyes "Goodnight baby."

"Good night."

Hearing a soft little snore issuing from her a few minutes later, his lips tipped up a lopsided smile and shortly afterwards followed her into sleep.

oOo

**27****th**** August **– _Approx 7.45am_

Waking up to find Lois snuggled into him with her head tucked into the crook his neck, Clark sighed in bliss and pulled her in closer.

Wanting to wake her up but knowing that she'd had very little sleep or rest for the past 36 hours, he determine to let her sleep in and struggled to keep his mind blank. Rolling onto his back, he settled her on top and contemplated if he preferred holding her like that, then rolled again and tucked her under him and after giving that position due consideration, he rolled for a third time tucking her into his side.

Nope, he couldn't decide which position he liked holding her best; they were all his favourites. The only thing he knew for certain, was that having this woman in his arms was quite simply the closest thing to heaven that he'd found here on earth.

At the scratching on the door, he carefully got out of bed and after pulling on a pair of sweat pants, let himself quietly out of the room to see Attila waiting for him.

"C'mon you little pest; let's get you sorted."

While the dog scampered outside to take care of his immediate needs, Clark stepped outside to give it thorough looksee. Satisfying himself that the yard was enclosed, so the animal couldn't wander off and get lost, he turned to go back inside but stopped when Attila dropped a ball at his feet and woofed expectantly.

Returning to the cabin 40 minutes later, his mouth turned down at the sound of the shower running, as feet automatically carried him through the bedroom and into the bathroom.

oOo

At the wash of cool air over her skin, Lois blinked the water out of her eyes and smiled in welcome "Good morning."

"Don't you, good morning me." Clark griped peevishly and stepped inside the stall "What are you doing up?"

"I get up every day."

"You weren't supposed to get up until I woke you up."

"You can wake me up tomorrow." She offered solicitously.

"It's not the same." Sulkily taking the shower puff from her hand, he retrieved the body wash and flicked open the lid to pour it on but at her small cough, paused "What?"

"Nothing, I just wouldn't have thought you'd use a flower scented body wash that's all."

"It's not for me, it's for you."

"I was afraid you'd say that." She uttered under her breath.

At the guilt on her face, he eyeballed her suspiciously "Why?"

"Because I've already..." Lois coughed again and smiled apologetically.

"You've already had your shower?" He yelped outraged.

"Well I waited for you but..." Figuring a distraction was most certainly called for; Lois planted her fists on her hips, threw out her boobs and had to refrain from laughing when his eyes became glued to her breasts "You didn't say anything about us having a shower together."

Clark licked his lips and stared at the bounty in front of him "What?"

"I said, you didn't say anything about us having a shower together this morning." She repeated innocently and began to lightly rock on her heels.

His eyes bulged and his head moved in time with the bouncing breasts "Don't think that I don't know what you're up to." He replied mesmerised.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh yes you do." Wrenching his eyes up to her face, he waved one hand "You think standing there like that, showing me all the goodies is going to sidetrack me; well it's not going to work." His eyes swept down then up then down again. Swallowing heavily, he remarked bravely "It's not going to work at all."

Tucking her hands behind her back, she sent him a demure smile while peeking at him from under her lashes like a naughty girl.

"Oh to hell with it." Throwing the puff over his shoulder, he scooped her into his arms and pressing her up against the tile, showed her what she couldn't do without him.

oOo

_9.15am_

Munching on her toast, Lois smiled at nothing in particular and wondered how it was possible that only 24 hours ago, she felt like she'd hit rock bottom and would never be able to climb back up. She'd never felt so low in spirit, so emotionally battered, torn and heartsick and now she was so happy it was scary.

Last night had been the best night's sleep she'd had in the longest time. It had been so long since she'd last slept with a man, she'd almost jumped out of her skin when she woke up during the night to find Clark there. It only took a beat for memory to return but she'd felt simultaneously foolish for nearly gasping in fright and relieved that he didn't wake up to witness her reaction, since he'd no doubt either tease her unmercifully or strut around like a rooster. When she crawled back into bed after using the facilities, she'd scooched into his side and nearly purred when he scooped her in even closer. He was so big that he took up most of the room on the double bed but she didn't care. Just having him there, knowing he was going to be there every night from now on made her tummy quiver. She'd tried to stay awake but had felt so deliciously peaceful, sleep had dragged her back under until morning. She'd woken up to the sound of his voice out the window while he played with Attila and had just laid there for a good ten minutes with a huge goofy smile on her face.

Clark had said that without her, the rest of his life would be lousy. Well without him, the rest of hers would have been barren. Maybe one day she would have found something to smile about again but the sorrow of losing him would have stayed with her.

What was funny is that she'd never consciously had an ideal. Yet all of things she'd never allowed herself to want in a man; could all be found in Clark. She'd had to meet him when she was old enough to recognise that he was her Mr Right and he had to grow up, before that could happen.

They'd simply met at the wrong time years ago and it was just one of life's little quirks that had sent her back to Smallville this summer; thank god for quirks.

Reaching over, Lois touched his hand gently "I never answered your question."

Clark sipped his coffee and cocked one brow in query "What question?"

She didn't need the badly disguised smirk on his face to know he was well aware of what she was talking about, and contemplated pushing his face into his breakfast cereal in retaliation. However, figuring that kind of behaviour wasn't acceptable a bare second before accepting a man's proposal, she indulged him by replying nicely "The one where you asked me to marry you."

"Oh that; just forget about it." He replied every bit as sweetly.

"Forget!" She asked incredulous.

"Mmm, I've withdraw the question."

"You can't withdraw it."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"You should have accepted while the going was good." He advised pleasantly "Unfortunately for you, you didn't. So I've removed the offer from the table and changed the terms."

Her mouth fell open before snapping closed "You want to negotiate?"

"Who said anything about negotiation?" His brow wrinkled in deliberation before smoothing out. Picking up the basket from the table, he held it out solicitously "Maybe you're a little bit muddled from a lack of sustenance; have another piece of toast?"

"I don't want a stinking piece of toast." Lois muttered crossly "And FYI, I wasn't going to say yes anyway."

"Well that's ok, I'm not looking to get a yes from you right now, it's hearing you say 'I do', when asked by the celebrant that I care about." Clark drawled amused.

She sat up and smiled at him blindingly "I thought you withdrew the question."

"I did because I'm no longer asking you, I'm telling you; we are getting married." When her smile turned to a glare, he simply ignored it "Asking was a miscalculation on my part, since it implied that I was giving you the opportunity to refuse. However, since that option isn't open for you, I've withdrawn the question and made it a statement of intent instead." Reaching across the table, he tipped up her chin and planting his lips gently on hers, whispered "Since I have every intention of carrying you to the altar if necessary, then I prefer to employ my time sweeping all opposition aside, to wasting it on negotiation."

Lois harrumphed but felt the thrill shoot through her at his words. Less than a minute later she began to chew her lip in worry as the idiom 'marry in haste, repent at leisure' floated through her mind.

She had a lot of friends who were divorced. None of them had thought they'd find themselves in that situation when they got married and some of them had been with their partners for years before they tied the knot. She and Clark didn't have that. They didn't have the advantage of a shared history, so couldn't know how they'd fare when the storms of life blew their way. What if their feelings for each other weren't strong enough to carry them through? They could be setting themselves up for failure on the strength of a three month whirlwind love affair.

Was that really long enough before making such a monumental decision?

What if just the concept of being married, of having that official piece of paper was enough to cause problems?

What if he got tired of being tied down and wanted his freedom again?

What if their differences became a burden?

What if he one day met someone else that he liked better. Someone who was normal that caused those long forgotten feelings of wish fulfilment to be rekindled once again?

What if...what if...what if...

She watched Clark playing with Attila as her mind continued to whirl.

She didn't want to say anything that would spoil the mood but neither could she bear to think that one day he'd look at her with regret, and she'd recall this moment when she could have advised caution, if only she'd had the nerve.

Wishing she wasn't so practical, wishing she could just go with the flow, Lois swallowed hard before remaking softly "We've only been seeing each other for 3 months and that's too soon to get married."

At her voice Clark's head swung up. Seeing the look on her face he nodded internally and handing over the toy he'd been teasing the dog with, sent the beast on his way with a pat before turning to his fiancée armed with determination "Says who?"

"It just is." She insisted waveringly "Maybe we could try living together for a while to see if it works and..."

"No! No halfway measures Lois and no playing it safe." Coming over to the table, he crouched beside her chair and took her hand in his "This is our chance babe and if we screw it up, there's no guarantee we'll be given another one."

Her heart fought for love while her head called for prudence "But what if we don't have what it takes to make it? I couldn't bear it if one day..."

He pressed a finger against her lips "Marriage isn't like following a blueprint Lo; its two people taking a leap of faith together." He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss atop the knuckles "We only get one life to live Lo, just one and I want to spend the rest of mine with you."

"I don't mean to be negative but so many people think the same when they get married and..."

"Yes they do but we can't let that stop us from trying." He cut in to state steadily "Right now we're standing on the high dive platform and in 50 years time we can either look back together, wishing we'd been brave enough to take the plunge, or we can look back together and feel glad that we thumbed our noses at the odds and jumped."

"You didn't have an option for us not being together in 50 years." She reminded him with a trembling smile.

"No I didn't." He agreed with a small headshake "Do you know; there's a famous quote from Shakespeare that's been running through my mind of late and I can't get it out. I have to change the gender because you're a woman, but the sentiment remains the same." Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Clark smiled tenderly and quoted "'_T'__were all one. That I should love a bright particular star, and think to wed it. She is so above me, in her bright radiance and collateral light. Must I be comforted, not in her sphere'."_ Lois' eyes lifted to his glassy with tears. "I read somewhere that Shakespeare was equating love to a star, because a star isn't _only a symbol of steadfastness and stability but also love and that's you."_

Her mouth trembled as the tears trickled silently down her cheeks "I'm not a bright particular star."

"Yes you are; you're mine." He corrected and cupped her face in his hands. "I was too immature to see it when you lived in Smallville years ago and I was too cynical to recognise it when you returned, but I know it now." He swiped his thumbs over her cheeks and told her quietly "I didn't meekly accept my feelings for you Lo, I went down fighting them and even then it wasn't with good grace.

I've been infatuated before and didn't want to go down that road again because I know better than most, how that feeling of fascination can mess with your head while it lasts. When I knew it wasn't infatuation, I began to worry even more because now I was charting unfamiliar territory and it was damned scary." He smiled lopsided and swiped his thumbs over her cheeks "But from the moment I accepted that I love you, I understood why that quote kept running through my mind. It's not only because it describes how I see you babe, the sentiment behind it also defines my feelings for you."

"It does?" She sniffled noisily.

"Mm hmm."

She swallowed heavily and in a soft shaky voice, whispered "I loved you yesterday, I love you today and I know for every tomorrow that comes; I'm going to love you with a steadfastness that will never wane."

His eyes darkened and in a voice roughened with emotion, he asked "Are you saying that's how you feel about me, or are you explaining the sentiment behind the quote?"

"Both."

Incredibly touched, he chided gently "Don't you know the way I feel about you is so overwhelming, that it's a miracle to know you feel the same way about me in return."

He was usually so brash that when he was incredibly sweet, it completely undid her. Leaning forward she pressed her forehead to his "But what if the cares of life eat away at our feelings for each other. I want to believe that love is enough to build a lifetime on, but divorce is such an easy option when times get rough."

"Lo..."

Ignoring his interruption she continued unhappily "Who's to say in a year or two when everything is less new, that you don't get sick of my sweet disposition and…." At his grunt she paused before trying again "…and you might not like it when I don't always look so great…" When he outright laughed in her face, she bristled and punched him in the shoulder "I'm being serious."

"It sounds like you're making up fairy stories." Clark chuckled and shook his head "C'mon Lo, we both know you're a managing little termagant so don't pretend otherwise." Refusing to admit anything, her mouth turned down sulkily. Taking no notice, he schooled his features into sober lines to inform her gravely "And as for you always looking good; well I've seen you looking like crap plenty of times and right now is one of them." Grabbing a napkin from the table, he wiped away the blob of jam sitting on her chin and pursed his lips "You're eye makeup's running down your cheeks." When Lois sniffled in response, then sniffed and sniffed harder before swiping a hand under her nose, his brow cocked up "Oh yeah that's attractive."

She gave a watery laugh "My nose is dripping and I don't have a tissue."

"I'm surprised you didn't just use my t-shirt." He commented dryly before reaching over for the box of tissues on the kitchen bench. When she pulled out a few and blew her nose noisily, he cleared his throat and smiled affectionately at her glare "Despite your bossy little ways, unladylike mannerisms, queer little starts and occasional unsightly appearance, I haven't run for the hills yet and I don't ever intend to. So if I'm willing to look past your numerous flaws, don't you think you can look past the fact that I'm damn near perfect?" At her gurgle, he flashed out a smile before leaning up to press his lips to her forehead "Baby we already know the good, the bad and the embarrassing about each other. So I hate to say it, but I've never heard you utter such complete rubbish in my life, than I did a minute ago when you started talking about our feelings fading when reality strikes."

"I was trying to be noble and give you time to reflect." She mumbled defensively.

"Hmm; well I'm not going to waste time being noble, I'll just tell you how it is." He captured her eyes and announced bluntly "I'm no gentleman and you're a harridan and that's why we're perfect for each other."

At those lover-like words she launched herself out of the chair and into his arms, laughing when he fell backwards onto the floor. Rolling her underneath, Clark lifted up on his elbows and requested solemnly "Marry me."

Lois cupped his face and looked into his eyes "Say please."

"Please."

"Yes." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged tight "Yes please."

oOo

_11:30 am_

"Are these good to go?"

Lois swung around to see Clark pointing at the bags sitting beside the front door and pouched out her lips in consideration.

Groaning internally because he knew that look on her face meant that she'd come up with something, he crossed his arms and waited.

"I don't think we should pack up the car up just yet."

"Baby we have to get on the road ASAP." He frowned unhappily "As it is we're not going to get home until after midnight and that's if we're lucky and there aren't any traffic snarls."

"We don't have to drive the whole way Clark, we just have to drive until it's dark and then you can fly the car to the outskirts of Smallville with me and Attila inside, correct?"

"True."

"Ok, so why don't we just leave our stuff here for now and go for a stroll around town? Check out times at noon but since I had to book for a three day stay, minimum then I don't actually have to check out until 12 o'clock tomorrow. So later on today I'll just pop into the office and tell them I'll be leaving very early in the morning, so want to settle up my bill now. Then after dark we can drive until we're away from the lights of town and voila, you can fly us the rest of the way home."

Giving her suggestion consideration he nodded slowly in approval "That's not bad."

She preened and smile winningly "Thanks; ok so let's go shopping."

The smile fell of his face "I don't want to go shopping."

"Well what do you want to do?"

"I wouldn't mind checking out the national park."

Her nose wrinkled "I don't want to do that."

He rolled his eyes and stepped over to thump down on a seat at the kitchen table "Why don't you go shopping and I'll take Attila with me to the park."

"That's fine." She nodded cheerfully in agreement "I saw a brochure around here somewhere..." She looked around the room then pounced on finding it atop the microwave "...here you go. It has all the do's and don'ts for taking pets into the national park."

He took the brochure and her hand and tugged her down onto his lap "Where is the dust ball? He hasn't bugged me for at least 10 minutes."

"Snoozing." She thumbed over her shoulder and her eyes twinkled "He wore himself out playing tug of war with you earlier. So while we've been busy packing, he's been busy catching 40 winks out in the backyard to gear himself up for your next round."

"Hah! He'll never beat me."

"You do have an unfair advantage." She reminded him dryly.

"I have several advantages and the first one is that he's a little runt, but is deluded enough to think he's Hercules." Clark jeered scoffingly.

That, Lois thought, was so absolutely true. Attila honestly seemed to have no idea just how small he was and had yet to let Clark's size intimidate him.

"You know how some people squeeze those soft toys to reduce tension?" When she nodded in reply, he summed up with unabashed pride "Well tormenting the little shit is how I de-stress."

"And if anyone else tries?" She asked politely.

"I'll kick their ass from here to kingdom come." He avowed sincerely "Attila's my stress ball."

And I have a feeling that you're his, she remarked silently.

He noted the way her shoulders were shaking with laughter and had the sneaking suspicion it had to do with him. Coughing loudly to gain her attention, he glared when she cleared her throat and sent him a sunny smile.

Oh yeah, she was laughing at him alright.

"Well I'm off to the shops so you guys have a nice time and I'll see you both later." Pressing a kiss to his head she began to slide off his lap but was stopped by the hand clamping around her waist.

"Not yet."

"Something on your mind?"

"As a matter of fact..." He picked up her left hand and wiggled a finger "Do you want an engagement ring?"

"Yes."

"You do?"

"Of course, why would you think otherwise?"

"Well other than earrings you don't seem to be big on wearing jewellery." He replied and gave the droplet dangling from one ear a light tap.

"I can take it or leave it..." Lois admitted with a blasé shrug "In this case I'll take it."

"Why?" He prompted hoping for some sweet words.

She smiled back flirtatiously and batted her eyes "Because you're the one paying for it."

"I should have known." He grumbled half-heartedly before getting back to the matter at hand "Ok, so when we get home, I'll go and get you a ring."

"I'll go with you." She rapidly offered.

"Don't trust me huh?"

"Trusting you doesn't mean I have to trust your taste in jewellery; it could be crap for all I know." She blurted out honestly and at his shout of laugher, bit her lip guiltily.

"It's ok babe, since you're the one who's going to wear the ring than I want you to be happy with it." Clark reassured amused at her faux pas.

Grateful he understood, she smiled back big and wide "Thanks."

"But this works out in my favour too." He smiled pleased "Since you enjoy shopping and I don't then I'm happy to stay at home, while you go out and find yourself a ring; that way we both win."

"Oh no, you're not getting out of it; we're both going." She swiftly negated.

"Fine." He replied ungraciously.

"I tend to know what I like, so it shouldn't take long." Lois comforted with a pat to his back.

"Good and keep it under five hundred." At her scoffing laugh, he grudgingly amended "Ok, you can have a grand but not a penny more."

"Make that three grand and we have a deal." At his squeaky whimper, she scowled and reminded him pointedly "You're getting me for the rest of your life, so stop being a tight ass and start being grateful."

"I have to be grateful to the tune of three thousand?"

"That's only for the ring." She advised gently "I haven't even touched on the wedding yet."

"You're going to make me poor aren't you?" He asked suspiciously.

Lois smiled sweetly but when his eyes narrowed even further, she gave in and told him the good news "Oh relax, I'm paying for the wedding not you."

"I'll help pay for the wedding too." He offered with bad grace.

Knowing his attitude was put upon, she kissed his brow in appreciation "Thanks and don't worry, I'm not into elaborate but I do want classy."

He nodded absently while scratching his chin in contemplation "Maybe we can do it on the cheap by holding it in the barn."

Stunned, Lois slid out of his lap to sit in the chair opposite and stared at him like he was mad "Ok, I just said the word classy and you used the word cheap then followed it up with the word barn; what's wrong with this picture?"

Hoping to get her to see the bigger picture, he tried to entice her with practicality "We can easily make the barn look really swanky and just think how much moolah we could save." When she simply blinked him astounded, Clark figured she needed his help to see the picture clearly, so pushed on "For example; we can hang fairy lights and streamers everywhere, which would really spruce the place up. Then we can put flowers all over and well...well I'm sure you can come up with lots of other ideas to make it pretty too..." At her by now non-blinking stare, he wiggled uncomfortably and hunched his shoulders in defence "...or maybe not."

"Oh and hey, on the invitations we can tell everyone to dress like they're going to rodeo, because the reception's going to be a good old fashioned hoedown." Lois remarked with mock enthusiasm "And forget about all the moolah we can save, just think how much we can rake in by placing a cover charge on the reception and making the guests pay for their drinks."

Hearing the sarcasm in her voice loud and clear, he complained moodily "Well sure, put like that it sounds dumb."

"There's no way you can make it sound good." She remarked tartly.

Surmising that he'd better give it up, he held out a hand in appeal "Baby I just want to marry you. Does it really matter where we do it?"

"That's a rhetorical question right?" She asked blandly then continued without giving him time to answer "I can tell you one place we're not going to be doing it, and that's in a barn."

He looked up and addressed the ceiling "I wonder when she become so difficult?"

"According to you I'm quite often difficult but in this case I'm simply being a snob; nothing else." Lois corrected candidly.

Holding back a laugh at her frankness, he meekly apologised.

Reaching over, she patted his hand amiably "That's ok, the line between a difficult person and snobby one can sometimes get a little blurred but to answer the question; it started when we began talking about my wedding and I make no apologies for it."

His brows rose inquisitively "Isn't it my wedding too?"

She nodded enthusiastically "Absolutely and I think it's fabulous that you want to be involved." She lifted her hand and began to tick off her fingers one by one "So we need to discuss what flowers you think we should have and then what food you think should be served. After that we can talk about what music we both like but first we need to decide on a colour scheme, as everything else is built around that..." She paused when he grabbed a napkin of the table and waved it in surrender.

"How about I organise the honeymoon and just stand where I'm told to at the wedding?"

"Are you trying to get out of it?" She asked politely.

"Yep."

She smiled and hopped back onto his lap to hug him tight "I was teasing; I'm going to hire a wedding co-ordinator who'll take care of all the details and do the running around to get things organised."

"Good."

"But they will need input from both of us." She warned him.

His nose wrinkled "Can't you look after all that stuff?"

"I promise to liaise with them on the nitty gritty details that I know most men aren't interested in." She held up a hand and swore solemnly. At his giant exhale in relief, she poked him in the shoulder "However, as this is our wedding I'd like for your preferences to be included as well. So you'll have to work with me a little bit."

"Done but truthfully Lo, the only part that's important to me is hearing you say 'I do' at the appropriate time; the rest is just garnishing and frills. So we can have whatever kind of wedding you want."

"Well the kind I want doesn't take place in a barn. So we'll just write that suggestion off as a brain fart moment you had, that I'm going to pretend never happened, ok?" She summed up neatly.

His shoulders shook as he nodded "Ok and my preference is for you to wear a dress that's held together with Velcro so I can get you naked quickly, since that's the other part I care about; the wedding night." He wiggled his brows lecherously.

Holding back a chuckle, she slapped his shoulder "Will you be serious? I was thinking that we should look into hiring the town hall. If the charges are reasonable then we can hold the ceremony in the garden out back and have the pictures taken there afterwards, then simply move inside for the reception." When he didn't reply Lois tapped his shoulder encouragingly "What'd you think?"

Clark shook his head and frowned fiercely in exasperation "Babe, I'm thinking about ripping your wedding dress off. Do you mind not interrupting?"

Giving up, she laughed and capturing his face in her hands, pressed smiling lips to his.

oOo

**28****th**** August **– _On the road between Metropolis and Smallville: Approx 3pm_

Lois held her left hand up and moved it gently then smiled with delight as the sun hit on the diamonds in her ring, causing them to glint and sparkle all the more.

The setting was beautiful with the central diamond set squarely in the middle and cut so brilliantly it flashed on its own, while the smaller stepped diamonds on the sides simply enhanced it.

Clark was right, she didn't wear much jewellery but when she did, she liked to wear quality and style.

God she felt good. She was going to marry the most annoying man in the world and she was thrilled to bits. Life was wonderful and everything was fabulous.

Turning to look at said man sitting behind the wheel, she scooted over slightly and pressed her lips to his cheek before cuddling into his side.

"Like the ring huh?"

"I love the ring." She replied simply.

Clark grinned and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Now if I can just find everything I want for my bridal finery as quickly as we found the ring, then everything will be perfect." She mused aloud.

"You can wear a sack for all I care." He put in helpfully.

"I don't want to wear a sack; I want to look so fabulous that your tongue falls out and I have to step over it when I walk down the aisle."

"Oh well in that case, go for broke and do a strip tease while walking down the aisle; I guarantee that'll work." He advised deadpan then laughed when she pinched his side. Sliding his eyes to her profile, he schooled his face into a picture of innocence and hinted broadly "Or maybe I should be the one looking for all your finery, since I'm the one who spotted the ring and pointed it out to you."

Knowing what he was expecting, Lois whimpered pleadingly "How many more times must I say it?"

"Once more couldn't hurt."

Dropping her head into her hands, she shook it back and forth while reciting in a droning voice "I'll never doubt your taste again. You're taste in jewellery is exquisite. You're a super intelligent alien, so I should have known better."

Clark preened and replied with fake modestly "It's so sweet of you to keep saying that but really; enough! You're just embarrassing me now."

Wondering absently if murder was still illegal, she flicked her eyes in his direction. Nah, she couldn't kill him; Attila needed his stress ball.

Bringing the conversation back on track, Clark queried thoughtfully "I thought you and mom were going shopping in a couple of days."

"We're going to Metropolis the day after tomorrow but if we don't find what I'm after there, can you fly me to New York?" At his nod, she pecked his cheek "Thanks; I have the design of the dress all mapped out in my head, it's finding the right material I want to use, along with everything else I need, that I hope is going to be relatively painless, but I'm not going to compromise. I know exactly how I want to look; right down to the nail polish I'm going to wear on my toes and if that means I have to scour every store and boutique in the country to find what I want, then that's what I'll do."

"Hmm, so just to be clear; when you asked me to fly you to New York, that was really just your way of easing me into flying you everywhere to find stuff right?" He asked diverted.

Uh huh." Lois agreed and put her head down on his shoulder. Closing her eyes, she snuggled into him while and recalling her reunion with his mom, she smiled. The two of them had hugged and cried, hugged and laughed, hugged and chatted then kept on chatting. The years since they'd last seen each other had melted away as if they'd never been, and just as they'd clicked upon first acquaintance so long ago, they'd done so again.

The only slight upset that occurred was when she and Clark told Martha of their plans to get a place of their own. The older woman had been sad knowing they wouldn't be staying on at the farm, but understood that every woman liked to be mistress of her own house. In the end she'd just been overjoyed to know she wasn't going to lose them completely, since intended to settle in Smallville. So as Clark would still be running the farm and Lois intended to be a very frequent visitor, the decision had suited all parties.

Coming back to the present, Lois looked out the windscreen and her brow wrinkled at finding they weren't on the road which led to either the farm or home "Are we going into town for something?"

"Yep."

"What?"

"You'll see." He smiled mysteriously "Now while you're sitting so conveniently close to me, why don't you make the most of the opportunity to blow in my ear and whisper sweet nothings."

"I have an even better idea." Skimming one hand up his thigh, she brushed her knuckles back and forth over the zipper of his dress pants. At his growling hum, she bit lightly on his jaw and cupping her hand over him to squeeze gently, let out a low throaty laugh when the truck swerved.

Quickly righting the vehicle, Clark exhaled loudly and clamped his hands on the wheel before turning to scowl at her "Hell babe, you nearly made me crash my truck."

"So, it's not like you could be hurt." She purred softly.

"Yeah but you could be."

"That's sweet but I'm sure you wouldn't allow me to be hurt either." She blew in his ear in thanks.

"Oh I'd protect you with my life alright." He reassured darkly "But that's only so I could kick your ass for making me scratch the paint job on my truck."

"You're more worried about your truck then me."

"Hell yeah, I've only had this baby on the road for six months." He reached out and patted the dashboard fondly.

"You've had me for less." She reminded him dryly.

He nodded but countered brashly "True, but the truck cost me more."

"Why am I marrying you again?" She wondered aloud.

"Because I'm the embodiment of all your dreams come true." He replied promptly.

She let out a peal of laughter and just kept laughing.

Shooting her a look, he grumbled under his breath before calling out loudly "Alright, alright enough!"

Snickering softly, she switched on the radio then punched through the various stations, stopping on the golden oldies before settling back content.

"Why'd you change my channel?" He asked patiently.

"The stations are all pre-set in the radio, so it's not like it'll take you more than 10 seconds to put it back." She replied logically.

"You shouldn't touch a man's radio." He groused and shot her a look from the corner of his eye for form's sake.

Ignoring that, she tilted her face to capture the wind blowing in through the window and smiled. She couldn't seem to stop smiling. She went to bed happy. She woke up happy. She'd even hummed while cleaning up after Attila in the backyard this morning. She was on cloud nine and it was all this man's doing. He was her knight in grubby armour and she loved every tiny tarnished bit of him.

When the opening bars for 'Smile' filled the cab, she smiled even wider. For as long as she could remember, she'd made every attempt to follow Nat's advice and now it almost felt like she was being rewarded for her long held belief in his words; maybe she was.

Swinging the truck into the first available spot, Clark switched off the ignition and turned to make a funny comment only to find he had an armful of sweet smelling femininity almost wrapped around him "What's wrong?"

Lois simply shook her head and hugged him tighter.

"Baby what's wrong?"

Pulling back slightly she whispered solemnly "I've never ever had a dream man until now; until you."

Undone, he simply leant his forehead against hers "Never."

"Never." She repeated truthfully.

oOo

_20 minutes later - sitting in the Talon_

Clicking off her cell phone after a quick chat with Martha, Lois looked around for Clark and wondered where he'd disappeared to. He'd parked her at the table nearly 10 minutes ago and…

Seeing him coming down the stairs, she nodded when he thumbed towards the counter, indicating that he was going to order their coffees.

Joining her a minute later, he took a seat opposite "Sorry babe, I just had to have a quick word with the manager."

"No problem, I called your mom and told her we were just having a coffee here and would then be by to pick up Attila. She said not to hurry and also asked if we cared to stay for dinner, so I happily accepted."

He nodded agreeably but the secretive smile on his face had her antenna quivering "What's going on."

"You'll find out."

When the waitress delivered their beverage, Lois looked between it to Clark as memory began to chime.

Smiling, she pointed at the tall glass on the table "A milkshake?"

"Uh huh."

He'd asked her to tell him about the flashes that she'd had of them but stipulated that he only wanted to know about the ones that had already come to pass so he didn't mess up the ones that hadn't. Seeing this one come to life made her heart flutter and the fact that it wasn't exactly as she envisioned, touched her all the more.

Slipping the straws out of their paper wrapping, he popped them in the drink and reached over to clasp her hand in one of his "Once upon a time, you said and I quote 'this is not a date, I'm not interested in holding your hand while we shared a milkshake'. Do you remember that?"

She nodded silently.

"We'll we've come a long way since then, so I think it's only fitting if we make it a tradition to do just that, every year on our anniversary."

"It's not our anniversary today."

"Today is only to get the ball rolling." He leant over and whispered "This is only the preview by the way; the main even comes tonight when we sit in my truck and make out."

"Why do that when we've got a whole house to ourselves?"

His lips tilted "For the adventure babe; we can pretend we're parking."

Her eyes lit up "Pretend we're parking?"

"Mmm; after the little shits fast asleep, we'll slip outside and hop in my truck..." He sent her a hot look and promisingly enticed "I'll even let you play with my radio again."

Holding back a giggle, she tapped her lips entranced "How can you make something so innocent, sound so dirty?"

"It's a gift." Clark replied and licking his lips, winked slowly for good measure.

Bursting out laughing at his lack of shame, Lois' eyes sparkled "Well you've got a date but for now, tell me what flavour you got." She finished by pointing to the glass on the table.

"You like chocolate and I like banana; so I had the two combined."

Holding the straw steady, she took a sip and smiled "It's delicious."

"Ready?"

"Uh huh."

Finishing their drink in record time, the two sat back in their seats and grinned like loons.

"You asked me to tell you when any flashes I have about us come true…" He nodded and she pointed at the empty glass "Well this was one of them."

"So you knew what was going on?" He asked in disappointment.

"No, it was only when the milkshake was delivered that I knew but it's not exactly the same; there are a lot of differences, including our conversation."

"Really?" He perked up rapidly.

"Uh huh."

"Good, I like knowing that I can change fate a little or better yet; keep it on its toes."

Tittering softly, she patted his hand in reassurance.

"Before I forget, did mom need us to pick anything up for her on the way home?"

"No, I asked but she's good."

"Do we need anything?" She shook her head in reply and he bobbed his head but his brow wrinkled "I know we've only been back a couple of days but we need to start getting organised. Right now, most of my stuff is still at the farm, with only a few clothes and things at the Murphy house. I don't mind staying there but I'd really prefer us to find our own place and get settled in properly, rather than this half and half crap we've got going on."

"Well I've been thinking about that." Lois leant forward and tapped the table meditatively "When Lana was here, she was staying in her aunt's old place right? So why don't we find out which agent handles the property and find out if it's up for sale, or if the owners simply prefer to rent it out."

His brows rose in interest "Well it would be convenient since it's adjacent to mine."

"Exactly, plus there's more than enough land to farm, if you later want to expand." She put in logically.

Liking the idea, his lips lifted in approval "Alright, so let's find out if it's for sale and what the asking price is."

"Ok but before we make any decisions I want to have a good look at the house itself; so far I've only seen it from the road."

"I've only been inside it once or twice myself and that was years ago, so I want a good look too but this time as a buyer, not a visitor. If we're happy with what we see, then we can bring in the professionals to get an appraisal on the property and all the requisite inspections, including one that specifically addresses the lands suitability for farming purposes." He stipulated firmly.

"Wouldn't it be alright?" Lois queried frowningly.

"I'm not willing to assume that." Clark negated with a quick head shake "Nell used the land for raising horses but that was over 20 years ago. A number of owners have come and gone since then, so I'd prefer to get a professional evaluation done."

"Fair enough." She nodded agreeably before remaking pointedly "This is still going to be a pain in the ass though. Anne said she's happy to pack up all my things and ship them to me but I have a lot of crap, so I can't leave it all on her shoulders. Plus all the furniture and household items I own, except for my bedroom suite is shared with her since we have a house together. While all the furniture and household items you own except for your bedroom suite is at the farm, which you shared with your mom until recently."

He sighed loudly and swiped a hand over his face "Ok, well after we find a house that suits us, whether that's Nell's old one or not, why don't we just go shopping and buy what we need. The only stuff we don't have to get is bedroom furniture."

"Fine and since I've got the Murphy place for another three months with the option of extending if necessary, we don't have to rush in and make any hasty decisions on either a house or furnishings."

"Thank goodness for small mercies."

"Amen!"

He scratched his cheek absently and frowned in deliberation "I was holding off moving all my stuff in with you, in case we found our own place fairly quickly but now I might as well just move all my stuff in except for the bedroom furniture, and get it over with."

"True."

"Good, the Murphy place isn't ours but it'll feel more like it once we've both got our stuff there and that suits me fine to go on with."

She grinned in return "Me too."

"Hey Clark; Lois."

At the call of their names, they looked over and smiled in greeting to the two men headed in their direction.

"Have you heard the news?" Neil asked casually after dispensing with the pleasantries.

"What news?"

"Mark and Tina are engaged." Dean threw in quickly with a devilish grin "Which means it's only a matter of time before someone walks away with a bundle of money."

Clark's brow wrinkled in consternation "How come I didn't hear about that?"

Neil coughed lightly "It ah...well the news hit the grapevine on um..."

At their curiosity, Dean smirked "They announced it last Friday afternoon."

"Ah." Clark replied in understanding.

"Ah what; what am I missing?" Lois asked bewildered.

When her fiancée simply shrugged in reply, she looked to the other men for an explanation. Smiling awkwardly Neil explained discreetly "Let's just say that on Friday morning, word spread rather rapidly that you'd left Smallville suddenly and Clark was fit to be tied about it. So no one would have had the guts to tell him about Mark and Tina."

Lois flushed bright red, pressed a hand to her cheek and replied weakly "Oh."

The two men exchanged gleeful looks before turning back with faces cleared of anything but happiness for their friends.

"I'm guessing by that rock on Lois' finger, congratulations are in order for you two as well?" Dean hinted broadly.

"Yep." Clark whipped out cheerfully.

"I'm sure you can do a lot better than him Lois." Neil advised with mock graveness.

"Like yourself for instance." Dean asked dryly.

"Well from all the talk I've heard around town, I'm a hell of a catch." He returned with a smile of fake modesty.

"Buddy I hate to tell you this but all the talk doesn't count, when you're the one doing it." Clark informed amiably.

Lois gulped down the chuckle that wanted to pop out and announced soberly "Hey this could be important, after all a girl has to think of her future." She informed her fiancée smartly before turning to Neil with a look of intense interest on her face "So what do you have to offer that he doesn't?"

"Here I'll show you." Neil stuck his face beside Clark's and smiled at her charmingly "Now you can wake up next to this every morning..." He pointed to his own face then pointed to Clark's "Or you can wake up to that and as you can see; that is butt ugly."

Clark snickered and punched him in the arm in retaliation.

Laughing cheerfully, backslaps of congratulation were exchanged by the men while Lois was kissed and fussed over.

"Well now that we've got that out of the way, let's get onto discussing more important matters; like the bachelor party." Dean licked his lips excited "I'm thinking strippers."

Neil kicked him under the table and flicked his head subtly in Lois' direction "I'm thinking you meant to say something else."

Cottoning on, Dean nodded vigorously "Oh yeah I..."

Lois held up one hand "I'm tempted not to say anything just to see how badly you flounder but since I'm feeling in a charitable mood, I'll simply reassure you that I don't care."

"You don't?"

"Nuh, but I do have three conditions about this party of yours..." She flicked up the first finger and looked at her fiancée "If those strippers become hookers, you stay well away from them." At his grin she smiled back cheekily and flipped up the second finger "Have the party at least a week before the wedding. Then you'll have plenty of time to recover and I won't have to listen to you whinge about being hung-over on the big day." She flipped up the third finger and turned to address the other two "If Clark's stinking drunk when you bring him home, don't wake me up. Just toss him on the front lawn and he can sleep it off there." She paused for half a beat before amending "On second thought, you'd better chuck him on the back lawn instead."

The men nodded obediently but Neil's brow wrinkled in deliberation "You know it's funny, but Tina didn't care about us having a bachelor party for Mark either."

"No she didn't..." Dean confirmed before he likewise frowned in recollection "And come to think of it, neither did Lucy when she and Tim got married a couple of years ago."

"And if memory serves, Anne was pretty blasé about Alan having one too." Clark supplied slowly.

The men nodded to each other then turned as one and eyed Lois suspiciously.

Wiggling in her seat, she stared back bravely "What?"

"Is this some kind of new trick women pull, thinking if they give us permission the fun will be taken out of it?" Clark mock glared.

Giggling, she shook her head "Nah, we have two reasons not to become unglued about it. The first is that we know boys will be boys and when a group of men get together, anything can happen and usually does. So it's best to state up front what's most important to us."

"Important; you mean like telling my friends to toss me on the lawn for instance?" Clark asked dryly.

"If you want to go whoop it up and make an idiot of yourself, more power to you but I don't want to lose my beauty sleep because of it." She returned snottily.

Turning to his friends, he asserted earnestly "She cares; truly she does."

"Of course I care; didn't I insist they throw you on the back lawn instead of the front one." Lois pointed out offended.

His brow winged up interrogatively "And how is one, any better than the other?"

"Well if you're on the front lawn, the neighbour's dog will likely come along and pee on you in the morning, so I'm saving you from that indignity."

"She does care." Dean grinned entertained.

"See." Lois stuck out her tongue.

Neil sat forward interested "And what's the second reason?"

"The second is that we have more important things to think about; like our own parties." She answered cheerfully.

The men just stared at her for a moment before simultaneously turning to each other and howling with laughter.

Having no trouble discerning what they were laughing at, Lois mentally shook her head. Men had no clue about hen's nights and they weren't about to get one from her, but she wished they'd shut up already.

The commotion of laughter caught other's attention and soon those in Talon were converging on the table in curiosity and once appraised of the news, the newly engaged couple didn't manage to get away for another 45 minutes.

oOo

**31****st**** August - **_Metropolis: Approx 12noon_

Clark stood opposite the Daily Planet building and contemplated whether he was about to do the right thing, or stepping over the line where he had no business going.

Before Lois had spoken about Chloe, he hadn't felt the urge to interfere in their relationship or lack of it, since he'd had no insight into her feelings. However, after hearing the tone of hurt and sadness in her voice when she spoke of her cousin, the one that matched the melancholy and regret he'd been hearing in Chloe's voice for years, doing nothing was longer an option.

The two women used to be closer than sisters and if he could give that back to them and begin to heal the grief in both their hearts, he felt it was worth the risk of angering his fiancée who said she'd maybe contact Chloe one day but had yet to do so.

Well he'd already made the decision to stick his nose in and he believed it was right. So it was time to stop staring at the building and do what he'd come here to do.

Digging out his phone he scrolled through until he found the right number, pressed the button and waited for the line to be picked up.

"Chloe Sullivan."

"Hey Chloe, it's me."

"Hi Clark, how have you been?"

"Good; listen I'm in Metropolis at the moment and was wondering if you have time for a cup of coffee?"

"That'd be great but if you have the time and don't mind waiting about half an hour for me to finish up the article I'm working on, we can have lunch instead and catch up properly."

"That's fine; I'll meet you outside the main entrance at 12.30."

"Ok, see you then."

Figuring that half an hour wasn't enough time to go wandering and too much time to sit staring at nothing, he bought a newspaper and made himself comfortable on a bench outside the Planets office.

Stepping outside the revolving doors 25 minutes later, Chloe saw him sitting on the bench reading a paper, and refrained from rolling her eyes at the number of women eyeing him off as they walked past. The man was far too pretty for his good. What was funny is that he knew it, laughed about it and certainly made the most of it with the opposite sex, but would beat his friends bloody if they commented on it.

Walking over, she stopped at his side "Hey."

Looking up, he smiled at the attractive woman standing in front of him "Hi Chlo."

Getting to his feet, the two exchanged a huggy greeting before making their way to a bistro not far from the office. Small talk was exchanged until the waiter left with their orders then it was down to the serious business of catching up.

"Now I know that I asked how you were on the phone but since we only talked for about a minute, let's start again; how are you?" She asked with a quick smile.

"I've never been better in my life." He smiled in return and lifted his water to sip.

At his response, she studied him closely for several minutes before sitting back stunned "You've met someone and I don't mean just another random woman for a few hours of fun and games but someone special."

"Yeah I have."

"I can't believe it. Clark Kent, confirmed bachelor has been well and truly caught." She laughed delighted before sitting up expectantly "When did this happen and who is this woman; I'd love to shake her hand."

He likewise laughed and reached over to clasp her hand "It happened only recently and I promise to tell you all about it; although I probably won't have to if everything works out." Seeing the curiosity on her face, he took a deep breath and told her solemnly "I have something to tell you that I know you've wanted to hear for a long time."

At the serious tone in his voice, she sobered and nodded encouragingly.

"Over that last...I don't know 10 or 12 years, you've talked about Lois quite a lot. At first you just mentioned her in passing. Then you started telling me amusing anecdotes from when you were kids. Then you began to bring her up in conversation almost every time we met. I think the reason you talk about her to me, is because I'm possibly one of the few people you see regularly from the old days who knew her." She nodded slowly in reply. He could hear her heart thumping at the knowledge he wasn't simply making idle conversation and pressed her hand gently "You're manner was usually cheerful Chloe but I knew that was only a facade. I don't think you even realise just how melancholy you sounded whenever you talked about Lois."

"You've found her?" She asked tremblingly and felt like crying in gratitude.

"No; she arrived in Smallville a few months ago for a holiday and is still there now." At the minute head nod, he gave her fingers another press "I wish that I could say I made the effort to look for her Chloe but I didn't and I'm sorry for letting you down in that way."

"That's ok, I tried to find her but couldn't so had to give it up after a while; you probably wouldn't have been any more successful." She firmed her chin "I know where she is now and that's what's important. How is she?"

"She's really good and I think it's safe to say she's happy." His smile ratched up several notches "You asked me about the woman; it's Lois. She's the one."

"You and Lois?" At his nod she smiled shakily in cheer "I'm happy for you Clark; I'm really happy for both of you." She licked her lips and asked hesitantly "Has she asked after me, mentioned me at all?"

"Yes, she's mentioned you." This time he hesitated before continuing gently "The reason I didn't call you when she returned was because even though I knew how you felt, I didn't know how Lois did and I wasn't about to hurt either of you by trying to force a reunion unless both parties wanted it."

Chloe searched his face hopefully "Do you think she does?"

"I do but..." He raked a hand through his hair while trying to decide how much to reveal that wouldn't either betray his fiancée's confidence, or hurt his friend "Lois had her reasons for breaking ties with you Chlo and it wasn't all because the two of you grew apart; I think that just made it easier for her to do it. I'm not going to tell you what was wrong. It's up to her to decide if she wants to share that with you or not but she did have a reason."

"I don't care if Lois doesn't tell me. She can keep all the secrets that she wants; god knows I kept enough from her. I just want to see her." Chloe affirmed solidly.

Hearing the sincerity in her voice, his lips crooked up in approval "I guess I knew you'd feel that way but I needed to be sure for her sake."

She bobbed her head in understanding "Take me to her please."

"I will but since I'm sure you'll want to spend more than 5 minutes with her, why don't I come back after you've finished work for the day and..." He stopped when she shook her head.

"No, take me now. I'll call my editor and tell him I'm taking the rest of the day off. He'll be fine with it since I put in a lot of hours but I don't want to wait." She pushed back her seat to stand and when the waiter came over with their orders, smiled apologetically "I'm sorry, we won't be staying but we'll pay for our meals."

"Is something wrong?" He asked concerned.

"No, I've just remembered I have another appointment so can't stay." She freely lied without a blush and retrieving her purse, called her editor then turned back eagerly to Clark "Ok, I'm ready."

With a quick head shake, he laughed and got to his feet "Sometimes you are frighteningly like her."

Knowing who he meant, she shrugged unapologetically and rushed him out the restaurant the minute the bill was paid.

After searching for and finding an alley where they could take off with little chance of being seen, Clark swung her up into his arms and after a quick check that the coast was clear, lifted up. Keeping his eyes and ears attentive to ensure they weren't spotted, he flew as quickly but safely as possible to the farm and let out a sigh of relief when they landed behind the barn of the homestead a short time later.

"I'll take you home after dark so we'll be less conspicuous ok?"

"Uh huh." Walking towards the house, she stopped confused when he held open the door of the truck "Isn't Lois staying at the farm?"

"No, we're renting the Murphy place for now and looking into buying the old Potter place..."

"Lana's old house." Chloe cut in surprised.

"Her Aunt's old house." He corrected fastidiously "Mom and Lois love the idea of being neighbours, I do too, along with the added bonus of merging that property with ours, thus expanding the Kent land into the bargain."

She chuckled and patted his arm at the proud grin on his face.

"Anyway, we gave the house a thorough looksee yesterday and set the wheels in motion but since we can't make any decisions before we get all the inspection reports back, we're renting the Murphy Place until everything's settled. If it doesn't pan out then we'll keep looking but at least we'll have somewhere to live in the meantime. Mom's over there with Lois helping to move my stuff in, while I was supposed to be at the farm packing up more but came to see you instead." He thumbed over his shoulder "I have got some things in the back but figured it was best to leave the truck at the farm and drive us there, to prevent anyone from town seeing me land in the street."

She nodded absently and swiped her hands over her skirt "I'm nervous."

"Lois will be too but I know she'll be happy to see you." He reassured honestly.

Pulling into the driveway a short time later, he turned to find her fidgeting restlessly "Ready?"

"Yes." She blew out a deep breath and hopped out of the truck.

X-raying the house he saw the two women were sitting in the kitchen and from the looks of the table, had just finished lunch. After retrieving a box from the back of the truck, he ushered his friend up onto the porch "I'll just go inside and tell her that she's got a visitor ok?"

"Ok."

Leaving her with a pat on the arm, he stepped inside the house calling out cheerfully "I'm back."

"Did you get what you had to dear?"

"Yep." Stopping in the kitchen, he smiled at his fiancée "I know you don't like surprises but I hope you're going to like the one I have for you. In fact I'm pretty sure you will."

Lois eyes lit up "What is it? Is it in the box?"

"Not unless you're interested in my farming magazines."

Her nose wrinkled "So what'd you get me?"

"Well I'm just going to leave you two alone and go outside to do...something." Martha announced blandly and getting to her feet, pulled open the back door "C'mon Attila let's go outside."

Lois watched them leave then turned back to her fiancée with suspicion bright in her eyes "Ok your mom's just run away, which means I'm probably going to yell at you..."

He grinned and held up a hand "Hold that thought babe."

Placing the box on the kitchen counter, he made his way back to where his friend was stationed on the front porch and holding open the screen door, held out a hand in invitation "Come on."

With both anxiety and excitement stirring in her belly, she followed him inside and came to a halt at the alcove to the kitchen, upon seeing her cousin getting to her feet.

Figuring that he wasn't needed any longer, Clark stroked one hand down Lois' arm "I'm just going to take mom and Attila for a drive, ok babe."

At her slight nod in reply, he pressed a kiss against her temple and stepped out the back door leaving the women to it.

"Hi." Chloe greeted shakily.

"Hi." Lois replied in the same manner.

"How have you been?"

"I've been good, you?"

"The same."

The two smiled at each other tentatively.

"Would you like to sit down?"

Chloe bobbed her head and took a seat at the table.

"Um, Martha and I have just finished lunch but there are some sandwiches left over if you'd like something to eat." Lois asked anxiously.

"No...yes...maybe later." Chloe cleared her throat and tried again "I'm good for now but thanks."

She bobbed her head in return then fluttered her hands anxiously "Would you like something to drink?"

"I wouldn't mind a soda if you have one."

"Sure, um just a sec..." Retrieving a bottle of coke from the fridge, Lois used the 10 seconds it took to fill the glass, to gather her composure before taking a seat opposite her cousin "So um...Clark called you huh?"

"No, he came to see me. He knows that I've missed you Lo, so he took me out to lunch and told me you were here." Pushing down the lump in her throat, Chloe reached out and clasped her cousin's hand "Once he did, the only thought I had was to come and see you. So he brought me here at my request, I hope that was ok?"

"Of course, it's nice to see you." She replied honestly while feeling more than a little out of her depth.

She'd waited a long time for this opportunity and unwilling to waste a moment of it, Chloe ignored the tears gathering in her eyes and got right to the point "I'm sorry for pushing you away Lois."

"That's all so long ago now and..."

"No Lois, we've lost a lot of time we can never get back and that's my fault." She interjected firmly.

"It wasn't all your fault Chloe; I knew we'd grown apart and I knew you were coming into your own, so didn't need your older pushy cousin around anymore, I've just always found it hard to let go of people who matter to me." She smiled tremblingly and added as an attempt at humour "It used to drive Lucy crazy when we were younger but I'm tenacious so..." Fighting back her own tears, she placed her free hand over the one clasping hers "However, it was my decision to do that with you Chloe. You never me and to be honest, I did it for both our sakes not just yours."

"I always needed my older pushy cousin and I loved her, I just didn't know how much until she was gone from my life." Chloe replied sadly.

"I loved my obstinate younger cousin and didn't know how much, until I had to let her go." Lois returned shakily.

"You said I never asked you to but I did, I just didn't say it in so many words." She insisted quietly. Seeing the hesitation on her cousin's faces, she swallowed heavily but didn't bother to wipe away the tears that were now trickling down her cheeks "I'm right, aren't I Lo?"

Not wanting to hurt but knowing she had to be truthful, Lois likewise allowed the tears to slide unheeded down her face and nodded apologetically "I was dealing with some stuff back then Chlo and I wasn't coping very well; it was...well it was a really hard time for me. I wanted to keep in contact with you but I didn't get the feeling it was mutual and that just made it easier to let go and start fresh."

Having confirmed what she'd known all along to be true, caused Chloe's heart to hurt that little bit more. However, knowing her cousin deserved the same honesty in return, she pushed aside discomfort, to confess out loud what she'd never had the courage to tell another "I'm sorry Lois, back then I was so jealous I couldn't see straight. I always felt like I was coming in last and I hated it. I'd put up with being second to Lana in Clark's affections for years, but comforted myself with the knowledge that one day I'd reach the pinnacle of all my dreams and be a world famous reporter. That was my goal and she couldn't beat me at, because it took more than good looks to be a winner in that competition and I was good. I'd made sure I was good by studying hard and working my ass off. Then you came along and..." She paused before admitting shamefaced "I know that I encouraged you to give journalism a shot Lo but you completely blindsided me your talent for it. I'm not saying that I wanted you to fail because I truly didn't, I just hadn't expected my own aspirations of being the best to feel threatened by you, which is partly why I tried to sabotage..."

"Chloe..."

She shook her head when Lois tried to stop her and forged on "I didn't only do it to protect Clark's secret Lo, it was also the green eyed monster that spurred me on. On the one hand I really loved being in his confidence and felt almost noble for choosing to bury stories that even slightly pointed in his direction. On the other, I felt resentful you didn't have to do that, yet smug that you were ignorant of the truth and underneath it all I felt..." Swiping the back of her free hand over her eyes, she firmed her chin and looked her cousin in the eye "...I felt lacking. You had the all the natural instincts ace reporters are born with Lois. You proved it in a number of ways, the first of which was by getting the stories despite my interference, even though you were only a novice in the field and I wasn't. I knew then no matter how hard I tried or how much blood and sweat I poured into my work, one day you were going to surpass me and I'd forever be playing catch up. I hated that feeling of inferiority, of being shoved into second place again and even though I hated myself for feeling like that, I just couldn't seem to help it."

Wishing she hadn't been the cause of her cousin feeling so wretched, Lois squeezed the hand she was holding "I'm sorry you felt second best Chlo but just so you know, you never were in my eyes; not ever."

"I know and that just irked me even more." She sniffed and swiped a hand under her nose "God, I'm so awful."

"You're not awful." Lois insisted and smiled crookedly at her cousin's grimace "Sometimes when you feel resentful towards someone, the last thing you want is to be beholden to them in any way."

"I know it doesn't any make sense but that's it exactly." She nodded and laughed without any humour "I didn't want you to be nice to me. I wanted you to get angry and tell me to shove off, so I could then feel justified about being mad at you and blame you for my attitude. Instead you kept being supportive and taking my snide remarks without fighting back, which made me feel even lousier and got my back even more."

Lois let out a sniffing laugh "I couldn't have won either way."

Laughing at the ridiculousness of it, she shook her head despondently "No you couldn't; I'm sorry Lois."

"It's ok."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is; you've apologised and that's enough for me." She corrected steadily "I think only a few people are saintly enough not feel some measure of resentment, when they think someone else may be cutting in to what they perceive as theirs." She told her truthfully "I don't believe you ever thought I was trying to do that to you deliberately but logic and emotion are two different things, so your resentment was natural and I think it hurt you to feel that way."

"It did."

She nodded in sympathy before stating firmly "You're a good reporter Chloe; you always were."

"I am a good reporter but you had the all the makings of being a great reporter Lois and that's the truth" she confirmed solidly and without bitterness, before divulging somewhat embarrassed "In the bad old days I used to imagine you tripping off to ceremonies and coming home with an armful of awards, while I sat by the hearth crying my eyes out like Cinderella not invited to the ball." Lois giggled, Chloe grimaced in accord "After you stopped calling and I realised you were gone from my life, I kept an eye out hoping to see your name in print somewhere and was disappointed not to find anything. I wanted that for you. I wanted you to be a great reporter. I wanted to see you winning awards and hopefully finding my way back to you in the process, if only to say how proud I was."

"Awards Chlo, I worked at the Inquisitor ..." She reminded her cousin with lopsided smile "It sounds like you were delusional."

Chloe gave a watery laugh in return and shook her head "You wouldn't have been at the Inquisitor for long Lo; you had the gift and the drive to make it to the top. I wasn't so blind that I couldn't see you gave your all the job, whereas I didn't." She picked up her drink to sip and wet her throat "Back then I had scads of excuses for myself but the truth is that Clark was my priority, over and above everything else. It started because I wanted him to fancy me and it continued because I was so starry eyed over being invited into the exclusive inner circle who knew the truth about him. So I pushed my own ambitions and needs aside, in the goal of becoming indispensable to him."

"You didn't want to lose him." Lois stated gently.

"That's what I thought at the time but honestly, I don't know if it was him that I didn't want to lose, or if I simply didn't want to lose out to someone else again. I was...god I was just so pathetically happy to have something Lana didn't, to be first for once you know?" Lois nodded silently, Chloe tried to smile but failing in the attempt, took a deep breath and kept going "I was so tired of coming in second to her. So fed up with the way she just strolled in and got what she wanted without lifting a finger. I could admit to feeling hurt by it, but would have ripped out my tongue before confessing it gave me the shits. Unfortunately I became so consumed with finally having one over on her, of having a part of Clark she didn't, that my need to be number one grew from that and spilled over into every area of my life, which is why I behaved as I did towards you." She paused and asked quietly "Do you remember my boyfriend Jimmy?"

Lois nodded silently.

"Well while we were dating he told me countless times that he was fed up with taking a back seat to Clark but I just waved his grievances off as unimportant. We did have other issues but that's what caused the most damage. Anyway, after we broke up I told him we could still be friends. I thought a supportive ex-girlfriend would be welcome where a hurt one wouldn't, and since I'd previously fooled Clark with the just friend's bullshit and managed to get closer to him as a result..."

"Um Chlo, I don't believe Clark ever bought that bullshit. Since he was trying the same thing on with Lana, he would have known what you doing and why." Lois cut in hesitantly.

"I know Lo; the two of us talked openly about our friendship a long time ago. We both confessed to using it to further our own agenda's more than once when we were younger but even before we did that I knew, which is precisely why I tried it on with Jimmy."

"I see; you were hoping he'd play along because he secretly wanted you back." Lois nodded slowly in understanding.

"Yeah, my devotion to Clark didn't lead to romance which is what I initially desired, but I came to see that having a good friend who trusted me completely, was worth a lot more than having a cute guy whisper sweet nothings in my ear to get me in the sack, but had little to say when he crawled out afterwards." She smiled half heartedly "So, I tried the friendship thing with Jimmy, hoping it would once again work out in my favour and although he was happy to take the olive branch I held out, it's Kara he's married to, so you can guess who came out the loser."

"Kara; you mean Clark's cousin Kara?" Lois asked bewildered.

"Mmm, they've been married about 8 or 9 years now; you didn't know?" At the headshake in reply, she frowned confused "On the flight here Clark told me you knew everything so I just assumed..." Breaking off when her cousin growled, she smiled apologetically "Sorry."

"Oh Clark told me he all about his cousin Kara true enough. He told me how she's actually older than him in Kryptonian years but was in suspended animation or something, so is younger than him here on Earth. And he told me how she has all the same cool powers he does and blah blah blah, because y'know that's important, but he doesn't bother telling me that she's married to Jimmy..." Lois huffed out a deep breath and lifting her eyes to the ceiling, announced baldly "...typical man."

Chloe snickered but nodded in agreement.

Shaking her head to banish thoughts of maiming her fiancée when she next saw him, Lois squeezed her cousin's hand in sympathy "Were you alright?"

"By the time they got married it was long over, so I was fine and happy to wish them well but when it all first blew up in my face, no. I was hurting a lot." She cleared her throat softly and raked a hand through her hair "I knew we'd grown apart Lo and I also knew it was my doing but despite that, I never doubted you'd be there for me whenever I needed you. So I tried calling with the intention of crying on your shoulder about Jimmy and discovered your cell phone had been disconnected. It was only then I thought back to the last time we talked and realised I hadn't heard from you in months."

Lois visibly winced "I'm sorry."

"No Lois, you have nothing to apologise for." She countered firmly "I'd become so wrapped up in other things, I hadn't even noticed you'd stopped calling me until then. That's when I also realised the only thing I knew is that you were in LA and that's because you told me, not because I'd asked. I didn't have landline number you could be reached at or a postal address; I didn't have any way to contact you at all." She took a deep breath and shook her head bewildered "It actually took losing you and Jimmy at the same time, to make me see that my need to be first had taken over and everything was unravelling. My love life was in the toilet, my career was close to being flushed down with it and I was losing people I loved left, right and centre. Up until then I thought no price was too high but when I counted up the cost, I knew how wrong I was." She squeezed her cousin's hand and confessed softly "In hindsight I saw that just as I expected Jimmy to forever take a back seat to Clark, I'd chosen for you to get lost in the shuffle of my priorities, because I assumed that just as you'd always been an absolute in my life you always would be, and nothing could ever change that; not even my less than stellar attitude."

Lois patted her cousin's hand reassuringly "It's ok Chlo; maybe taking a break from each other was the best thing for both of us."

"No it wasn't." She negated without hesitation "I was able to salvage my career and it took a lot of work to do so but it didn't make up for losing two people that I loved."

"But you learnt from your mistakes and that's what's important." Lois returned staunchly.

"Oh I learnt alright; there's nothing like getting a boot in the ass to catch a person's attention." She affirmed deadpan.

Lois smiled crookedly in agreement and after vacillating for a moment, asked directly "What has Clark told you?"

"All he told me is that you were here in Smallville and there was a reason why you broke ties but said it was your business and your decision whether to tell me or not." Pulling her hand free, she got up and came around the table to take the seat next to her cousin "From the little he said, I gather you had some kind of upheaval in your life but I'm not going to ask you what it is. You can keep it to yourself with my blessing Lo. All I want is to have you back in my life and to regain what I carelessly threw away years ago."

Lois lips' trembled at the sincerity in her cousin's voice and reaching for her hand again, she clasped it tight "Clark told me that you were meteor infected Chlo; he did have a reason so please don't be angry with him."

"I'm not, I'm only sorry I allowed my own feelings of distaste about it, to be yet another secret that I chose to put between us."

"You're not the only one who had a secret she wanted to keep hidden." Taking a deep breath, Lois quietly began to tell her what happened.

Chloe rested her head on Lois' shoulder and the tears trickled down her cheeks in bitter regret for not being there when her cousin needed her. Recalling how disinterested she'd been to hear from Lois after she left. Remembering the almost desperate appeal in her cousin's voice, she cringed in remorse and wished that she could go back to undo it all.

When Lois grew silent, she pressed her head harder in to her shoulder "How long did you stay at the cabin Lo? How long did it take before you felt able to cope and re-join the world?"

"Two years." She replied after a beat of hesitation "Lucy and I both lost two years; they were just cut out of our lives and we have nothing to show for them."

"Yes you do; oh yes you do." Chloe sobbed fiercely "Lucy has her sister and I bet she doesn't regret one minute of those two years and you Lois; you fought to hold onto your sanity. You fought to have a place in the world again and you won."

Patting her cousin's arm, she smiled tremblingly in return "I guess that I did."

Getting up, Chloe sniffed, then sniffed again while searching the room for tissues and almost pounced on the box sitting on the corner of the bench. Grabbing a handful, she wiped her eyes and blew her nose loudly then laughed when Lois lunged for the box herself.

Not giving her a chance to do anything but blow her nose, she pulled her cousin into a tight hug, holding on for a long desperate minute "I wish that I'd been there for you Lo, I wish that I could undo it all and be there. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry you went through so much by yourself because I was too caught up in other things to care."

Leaning back slightly, Lois shook her head "I got through it Chlo but I wasn't alone. Daddy and Lucy were right there beside me and the three of us have been really close ever since; so something good did come out of it."

"If you read my mind now Lo, you'll know how proud I am of you; how much I love you."

"I don't need to because I can feel it."

She smiled in return before her eyes widened mournfully "Oh gees, I just realised that I've been wasting my tears crying all over you, when I should have been crying on your head."

Chortling out a laugh, Lois pulled her cousin in for another hug and holding on tight, began to laugh even harder when Chloe rubbed her face into the side of her head.

oOo

Bringing the truck to a halt in the driveway, Clark took a quick peek into the kitchen then turned to his mom with a smile of relief "They're both talking a mile a minute and smiling an awful lot, so I think we've come back at the right time."

"See and you've been silently worrying all this time that Lois would be angry at you, for forcing a reunion with Chloe onto her without warning." Martha chided lightly.

Discomfited at her reading him so well, his lips twisted "Is there anything you don't know."

She beamed a smile and climbed out of the truck. After setting Attila on the ground, Martha straightened up with a cheeky grin "Since I expected everything to work out between the girls, I thought we'd have a private celebration of both your engagement and their reunion, so bought something special for dinner tonight."

Chuckling in return, he shook his head and grabbed the two grocery sacks from the back. At the muffled bark, they looked down to find Attila looking up at them with a hopeful expression on his face and a ball clamped in his jaws.

"I played ball with you in the park while mom did the shopping for dinner, now we're going inside." He informed the dog cordially before making his way up the front steps. Holding the door open, he allowed his mom to pass through then turned back to the mutt "Are you coming?"

With a yip, Attila dropped the ball and bounding up the stairs, raced into the house.

oOo

Hearing the women chatting animatedly, Clark silently wondered what beast he'd unleashed by bringing them back together and refrained from rolling his eyes when after a quick hug with Chloe, his mom began to natter along with them.

Spotting new prey to shower him with affection, Attila scampered over to Chloe's side and woofed in a demanding plea for attention.

Dutifully bending down to pat the dog, she giggled when the beast jumped into her arms and began to lick her face "Who's this little fellow?"

"His names Attila but that's not what Clark calls him." Lois replied amused.

"What do you call him honey?"

He cleared his throat and bent a stern eye on his fiancée before turning to his mom "I call him the dust-ball."

"Riiiight." Lois drawled and smiled sunnily when the stern eye became the 'shut up' eye.

Knowing the little shit would want something the minute he sat down, Clark tossed some kibble into the dog's bowl, and after retrieving the iced tea and cake at Lois' request, grabbed a beer for himself before joining the ladies at the table "Has Lois told you the news Chloe?"

"She's told me heaps of news so it depends what you're talking about."

"I've told her heaps of stuff about me." Lois smiled winningly.

The two women answered together.

"Figures; get two or more women together and they'll jabber on but never get to the point." He shook his head and ignored the castigation raining down from all three. Holding up his hand for peace, he smiled unrepentant "Right, so we've got two things to tell you. The first is that Lois and I are getting married."

He'd no sooner finished then Chloe squealed, hugged her cousin tight then rushed around to hug him before demanding "Where's the rock; I wanna see it?"

"I took it off to ensure it didn't get scratched while moving stuff around." Lois jumped out of her seat and rushed to the bathroom to wash her hands first before retrieving the ring from her jewellery box. Hasting back to the kitchen, she flourished her hand around before shoving it under her cousin's nose.

"Oh my god, that's beautiful."

Chloe grabbed her hand and moved it back, then brought it forward again to eyeball it closer. Turning to Clark, she nodded in approval "You have good taste."

He smiled with fake modesty "Why thank you; Lois said that she wanted to pick the ring but hah! I saw it first and pointed it out."

Lois laughed and ruffled his hair "I'm not saying it again."

"Fine but maybe next time you won't be so ready to kick my input to the curb." He retorted snippily and took her eye roll as agreement "Anyway, onto the next bit of news. I'm going to dust off the suit mom made me and..."

"Become a visual superhero instead of the pervy blur that's been running around all this time." Lois cut in helpfully.

"I'm not the pervy blur, I'm the mysterious stranger." He retorted grieved.

"Anyone who can swish in and out in places without being detected, seems kind of pervy to me."

"What about the Flash?" He countered swiftly then winced when all three tittered "Ok, that names a bad example." Giving it up, he turned and smiled charmingly at his friend "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to write about my debut for The Planet."

Chloe gasped in awe "Are you kidding? I'd love to write about it."

"I was hoping you'd say that because there's no other reporter I'd trust to have my best interests at heart, instead of their own." He paused and cocked his head "I'm not sure of the right way to approach it though so I'll leave that up to you. The only stipulation I have, is that any personal details about my human life are left out."

Chloe tapped her fingers on the table as her mind ticked over "Ok, well although I know a lot about you there's bound to be plenty of things that I don't know, which you in turn you wouldn't think is important enough to mention, unless specifically asked about them first." At his frown, she told him patiently "For example, you know me really well but I'll bet you don't know that I enjoy reading romance novels and watching trash TV."

She wrinkled her nose at the look on his face, but got back to the point "See, so I think the best way to approach it, is for me to treat you like any normal interview to pull out any details which I think might be relevant. Some I'll already know and some I won't but it will keep me in the zone smoothly to do it that way and after I finish writing it, I'll give it to you to check over to ensure that in my enthusiasm I don't put in anything that you don't want revealed."

"Yeah that works." He nodded in acceptance "I understand that some personal details have to go in but I want to keep my life as Clark separate from my job as Kal-el."

"You're going to use your Kryptonian name?" She queried surprised.

"Well I refuse to use boy-scout and I can't think of another handle I like, so Kal-el will have to do."

She bobbed her head in accord then turned her cousin "Hey Lo, I know that you're not in journalism anymore but you were good back in the day. So I'd like your input if you wouldn't mind giving it."

Lois smiled diffidently "It's been a long time since I did anything like that Chlo and I imagine my writing skills are way beyond rusty."

"So what, I said that you were a natural and you were; I bet anything you'll take to it like a duck to water." She countered swiftly "Writing takes imagination Lo and I know you have that by the bucketful. So before Clark proofs the story, you can go over it and add any flourishes you think might be helpful, or punch it up to grab the reader where you think the story might be lacking."

Getting caught up in her cousin's enthusiasm she grinned "Ok I'll do it" then quickly held up a hand to stipulate "But remember Chlo, you're the professional not me and it's your career that counts here, not mine. It's been years since I put pen to paper, so if you don't care for any of the changes I make, don't be afraid to tell me, deal?"

"Deal but my stipulation is that your name goes on the by-line with mine." Ignoring the headshake in response, she continued persuasively "I'll tell my editor it's a one-time thing and he'll go for it to get the scoop of the century."

"You'll be doing most of the work Chloe, so I'm not going to take half the credit for maybe adding a line or two at most." She returned immovably.

"Lois it's only fair..."

"I'm growing cobwebs while the two of you debate this." Clark cut across Chloe's rebuttal to bitch loudly in protest.

The women bit their lips, looked at him then back at each other and smiled shamefaced.

"Why don't we worry about this later?"

"Good idea." Lois agreed swiftly and patted her fiancée's hand consolingly "Sorry."

"S'ok."

Turning her mind to other matters, Chloe tilted her head and looked Clark over "Can I ask what you're going to do about your face? I mean people are bound to recognise you unless you wear a disguise."

"I'm going to talk to Jor-el." He replied amused "Given that he knows everything and has an answer for anything I throw at him, I have to figure he must have known I was going to be in this predicament sooner or later. So I'm crossing my fingers he won't let me down now."

"Well he was on Earth for a short time long before you were born sweetie. So I wouldn't be surprised if he did create a solution from having that exposure to our world, and it's just a matter of you asking him for it." Martha advised helpfully.

"Yeah that's what I was thinking too." He agreed with a nod.

"Ok, so putting that aside for now..." Chloe looked between Lois and Clark eagerly "When's the wedding's going to be?"

"In a month." Clark replied for both of them. When Lois frowned, he frowned in return and amended "Sorry, I meant in a week."

"One week! Are you kidding?" Lois demanded incredulous.

"Well you frowned at a month, so I figured you wanted me to bring the date forward."

"You did not." She accused directly.

"Are you calling me a liar?" He asked politely.

"I'm calling you a bald faced liar." She stated without hesitation "You know very well that it takes longer than a week to organise a wedding."

"So when were you thinking of having it then?"

She shrugged undecided "Maybe in about four or five months."

"Forget it!" He shot back speedily "You can have one week, two weeks, three weeks or four weeks; take your pick but no longer than a month."

"Two months." Lois threw down flatly.

Clark took a sip of beer and settled back comfortably in his seat "One month."

"7 weeks." She proposed and getting to her feet, held out her hand for him to shake on a deal being reached.

He took her hand, kissed it and repeated lazily "One month."

Snatching her hand back, she bit out between clenched teeth "6 weeks."

He held up a finger and repeated "One month."

"5 weeks and that's my last offer." She bargained desperately.

Clark stretched and pretended to think about it for a moment, before announcing "One month."

Lois screamed and tugged at her hair before giving it a gentle pat. Then turning to women, she smilingly announced "We're getting married in a month."

A small sound escaped Chloe and Martha as each bit down on the inside of their cheeks. Smiling bravely, they looked at Clark and had to bite down harder to prevent a snicker from escaping at the complacent, yet smug expression on his face.

oOo

_Later that night – Approx: 1am_

Rolling over to cuddle into Clark, Lois woke up pouting at finding herself alone in the bed. She liked having him beside her now. Liked the big lug taking up so much room and crowding into the little space she had left. They'd only been sleeping together for 5 days, yet she'd already gotten into the habit of drifting awake long enough to note his presence, before snuggling in and feeling a thrill in her tummy when he pulled her closer, spooning around.

She'd gotten spoilt.

Well she'd better get unspoilt and fast. Once Clark put on the suit and became a public figure, there were bound to be many more nights like this. But that was ok because when he was done, he'd come home to her.

Yawning hugely, she climbed out of bed, plucked the short satin robe from the end of it and quietly let herself out of the room.

As she stepped past the laundry door, Attila jumped out of his bed and gave a soft ruff. Unsurprised, she bent down and smoothed one hand over his head "Go back to sleep sweetie; I'm just feeling a little restless." Instead of listening to her whispered advice, the dog followed her into the kitchen. While Lois helped herself to a glass of water, the dog lapped up the liquid in his dish and when she made her way out to the front porch, he was right there beside her.

Standing at the railing with the animal curled up but alert on the porch seat behind her, she lifted her face to the sky and breathed in the fresh air. The night was hot, the fierceness of summer still holding on even though it was officially over, but soon autumn would sweep in bringing cooler weather along with it and then winter would come along, making her wish for summer once again.

Debating whether it was worth her while to wait up for Clark or go back to sleep, she sighed in indecisively then jumped and spun around at the touch of his hands on her shoulders. With no light coming from within the house and the brightness of the night sky unable to penetrate past the darkness of the trees to where she was standing on the porch, all she could see was a solid shadow standing in front of her. It only took a beat to recognise who it was, but her heart continued to hammer crazily as she lifted one hand and placed it on his chest to feel the warmth of his skin beneath her palm.

"Hi."

The gravelly tone in his voice caused her stomach to clench and her nipples to tighten in response.

Licking her lips, she whispered "Hi" in return but couldn't form any other words.

Unable to move, Lois silently wondered if Clark was the sorcerer weaving this spell around them, or if he felt just as helpless as she did by its pull. Uncaring of the source, she leant into the arms gathering her close and closed her eyes at the touch of his lips on hers.

oOo

Flying towards home, Clark held his face up towards the breeze and smiled. He loved flying at night; it was the only time he had the freedom to sail around at will, without having to worry about spectators seeing him. He still had to keep under the radar but didn't have to be as vigilant about it as he was during the day. Of course, after he went public he wouldn't have to worry about that anymore which was a plus. In fact there were only a couple of small negatives he could think off but they were nothing compared to the one big drawback that was a wrench; losing the cool clothes he wore.

Soon there'd be no need for his long black coat, his black t-shirt, black jeans and boots because he'd be wearing the fugly suit his mom made him. His signature look, which he personally thought looked pretty frosty, was shortly going to be a thing of the past; and who did he have to thank for it? None other than his stickybeak fiancée who refused to give him any peace, until he agreed to step out of shadows and into the light looking like Dudley Doo Right, instead of James Dean.

Ah well there was some consolation. His stickybeak loved seeing him in the fugly suit and had promised to rip it off him every chance she got so...

Angling towards the house he stopped short a minute later at seeing Lois standing on the front porch. He wouldn't have seen her at all if she hadn't moved but the light from the moon and stars had caught her for one long beat, before she was once again eclipsed by the cover of trees.

He'd left her sleeping nearly 90 minutes ago and the whole time he'd been gone, he'd thought of little else except coming home and climbing back into bed beside her again; _their_ bed. The thought of that had been delectable enough, but finding her like this caused the breath to catch in his throat.

How many times would he have given anything, to come across her in the middle of the night when she stayed at the farm for all those weeks?

How many times had he imagined sweeping her up into his arms and carrying her off to his bed?

How many times had he envisioned her coming to him?

He couldn't count them, they were times without number.

Every night he felt a bone deep satisfaction when she fell asleep in his arms but maybe finding her like this, was recompense for all those times and all those nights when she wouldn't. He liked to think so and since he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he was going to take this opportunity to make his fantasies a reality.

Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the porch carefully and smiled unsurprised when he saw Attila, curled up on the wicker seat beside the front door. It didn't take Einstein to figure out the beast would be keeping guard but it was nice to see it all the same. However, the little terror would certainly ruin the mood if he began to jump and bark, so the first order of business was to put the dog where he belonged; back in his own bed.

Zooming around to the rear of the house, Clark zipped inside the bedroom and after shedding his clothes, whisked to the front porch stealthily to scoop up the dog. Settling the animal on his doggy bed, he gave him a pat at the woof he received in greeting and after ensuring the beast was bedded down, made his way to the front porch again.

Stepping outside, he gazed at Lois silently for several seconds recalling all those nights once more, before walking forward quietly and coming to a halt at her back. He felt the betraying jump she gave at his touch, moved infinitesimally closer when she spun to face him and sucked in a breath as the touch of her hand on his chest, seared like a brand.

"Hi."

He heard a tiny gasp escape her lips, felt the small tremor that wracked through her, felt her breasts swell against his chest, and felt his body harden further in response.

"Hi."

Her throaty whisper caused his breath to snag and his blood to pound in his veins. It was exactly as he'd imagined; exactly.

The air fairly sizzled as they stared at each other in the darkness. Awareness arched between them until the only sound they could hear, was the breathing of the other. Slipping an arm around her waist, he brought her closer and tipping up her chin, lowered his mouth to hers.

Lips moulded and clung, firmed and hardened as tongues danced and duelled; into her mouth, then his and back again. Quickly spinning around, he pressed her up against the wall, tugged the belt of her robe lose and sweeping it aside, leant forward to nestle his erection in the notch between her legs.

Both moaned in a combination of pleasure and frustration. His chest rasping against her breasts felt divine, their bodies pressed against each other's delicious, but the barrier of his briefs, maddened.

Wanting them gone but knowing if he dispensed with them now he'd be inside her a second later, Clark captured the hands sliding towards his hips and dragging his mouth free, shook his head "Not yet."

"But..."

Not giving her a chance to respond, he recaptured her lips in a provocatively long slow deep kiss.

At velvet promise of his lips, she simply melted against him and let out a little purr at the touch of his hands roaming over her back and bottom.

Giving them both a chance to breathe deeply, he pressed his forehead against her neck and silently reminded himself they were together for life, so he didn't have to rush. The reminder did little to calm the throbbing in his groin or the clamouring of his need. He couldn't imagine ever feeling blasé about having this woman in his arms. His want of her burned in his heart but if he wanted to make the fantasies he'd had about them come true, then he had to suppress the urge to simply take and bind her to him.

Pushing aside his own need, he lifted her up and grunting in approval when her legs wrapped around his hips, stroked one hand down her bottom and under.

Lois jerked and mewled softly as his fingers skimmed and brushed delicately over the flesh of her sex, causing her stomach muscles to tighten as hot spears of excitement began to shoot through her pelvic area.

"Clark."

At the murmur of his name, his mouth clamped onto one breast just as his hand slid around to the front and down to seek out the now moist flesh once again. Dipping a finger inside her entrance, he twirled it around to gather some of the moisture seeping out, before retreating to rub and chafe the pads of his fingertips over the heart of entrance deliberately and repeatedly while his mouth fastened onto her other breast. Feeling the slight tremors racking through her, Clark pressed his lower body harder against hers and sliding two fingers inside her channel, began to vibrate them against the inner walls of her sex, while his thumb rapped a soft tattoo against the button of flesh sheltering beneath its hood.

Hearing the distressed sob trapped in her throat; one that signified she was close but not close enough, he slid his lips up to her ear and whispered softly "Let go baby, just let go and I'll catch you."

Drawing back from his hand, yet conversely pushing herself harder against it, Lois gasped as the hot liquid tightness continued to rise from her womb to her belly and breasts, causing her legs to tremble and her hips to jerk. Clamping her arms tight around his neck, she pressed her face into his shoulder and shook in reaction when he flicked on the very base of her clitoris where she most loved to be touched. Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she panted heavily knowing one more touch would finish her "Clark; oh god Cla..."

At her whispered plea, he tightened the arm around her waist and sealing their mouths together, caught the wail that escaped her lips when his thumb gently scraped along the highly sensitive stem before dabbing on the core a second time.

As a gush of exquisite pleasure ripped through her, Lois convulsed and cried into his mouth then gasped moaningly when his hand pressed down firmly on the area just above her pubic mound, tossing her up on another wave of ecstasy before the first spasms had completely died away. Whimpering, shuddering, she dug her fingers into his back and pulling her mouth free, bit down on his shoulder until the last aching contractions radiating through her body finally grew quiet, leaving her limp.

Swinging her up into his arms, he carried her to their bedroom and after laying her down, dispensed with his briefs before joining her.

"Shade your eyes Lo."

"Wha…" Quickly throwing one arm over her eyes to shade them from the bedside light, Lois lowered it carefully until her vision cleared "Why'd you do that?"

Ignoring the question, he pressed his mouth softy to the edge of hers before trailing his lips to her jaw and down to her throat, to allow his mouth to feast there, while his hand smoothed over her breasts in a gentle rubbing motion until the de-tumescent buds began to unfurl and harden once more.

At this new delicious assault on her senses, Lois sighed and slid her leg over his to rub the back of his calf with her foot, while her hands circled over his shoulder blades then down to his bottom and up again.

Limbs entwined as they rolled over the bed. Mouths met and clung, moulded then parted just enough to change angles before resealing as hands stroked and glided over soft womanly curves and hard masculine muscle.

Rising up slightly in search of air, Lois managed to drag in a lungful before Clark pushed up on one forearm and slipping his hand behind her neck, directed her mouth back to his. Wanting her, simply wanting her, he slowly rolled her under him and shifted to lie in the cradle of her thighs then paused as the word he'd come to associate with her once again resonated through his mind; mine.

He'd never thought it was possible to find one woman that he could love without reservation. Hadn't thought it was possible that he'd even want to but now that he had, there was very little he wouldn't do to keep her.

Her lashes fluttered up to reveal eyes darkened with desire but puzzled at his hesitation, only to become trapped by the sharp blaze of need shooting out of his.

They stared at each other silently for the space of a few heartbeats and as her hand lifted to sit atop the one cupping her face, he pushed forward sinking his penis deep inside her passage. The crisp sound of sheets rustling as bodies came together, separated and came together again all while their eyes continued to hold fast to each other's was so evocatively sensual, they fell over the edge in a long sweet slide to oblivion together.

Coming back to the present several minutes later, Clark dropped a butterfly kiss on her shoulder and leaning up on his elbows, swept his eyes over her face "I've wanted to do that for what feels like a lifetime."

"You've done all of that to me plenty of times, and can I just say thank you." She replied contentedly in gratitude.

"You're welcome but that wasn't what I meant." He replied softly.

Feeling far too mellow for talk but figuring that she owed him, Lois waved one hand around aimlessly "Then what?"

"I was talking about carrying you to my bed."

"You've done that before too."

"This is different."

"Mmm; ok but how?"

Rubbing her jaw with his thumb, he confessed "This is a fantasy I'm living out."

"Why didn't you tell me so that I could play too?" She reproved lightly.

"Baby I'm not playing." He assured her low voiced.

The tone in his voice tinged her cheeks a delicate shade of pink but it was the look in his eyes, the one that had been there while they made love, that caused her tummy to flutter anew "Oh...um; are you being mushy?"

"Mushy is far too soft a word to describe how I feel; earthy would suit better." He assured her openly causing the pink in her cheeks to deepen. Bending forward, he pressed his lips to her cheek before sliding them to her ear and whispering "How would you define the word, mine; my heart?"

The endearment caused her heart to tilt, even as understanding bloomed inside her almost cutting off her vocal chords "I'd say..." She cleared her throat and tried again "I'd say it's kind of...primitive."

"I'd say it's remarkably apt." He returned gently.

When she simply stared at him doe eyed; Clark nudged softly "No response."

"I...no one's ever wanted me that much before." She blurted out haltingly.

"If anyone had, I would have taken you from them. So it's just as well they were all smart enough to know their time with you was limited, and let you go before I came along; isn't it?" He returned steadily.

At the rock hard certainty in his voice, she shook her head unable to speak.

Figuring that he'd given her enough to think about, he shifted to move off to the side, only to stop when her arms and legs locked tight, refusing to let go "I love you Clark."

His eyes darked as his thumb swept over her lips "Say it again."

"I love you." Lois repeated quietly.

"And the way I feel, it doesn't scare you?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head and mumbled uneasily "I'm scared by how much I feel."

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

His smile grew and feeling incredibly good, he rolled them onto their sides and encouraged eagerly "Say it again."

Laughing, she punched him in the arm "How about you saying it."

"Aw c'mon, I don't want to stroke your ego; I want you to stroke mine."

Chuckling, she pushed him down, leapt on top and grabbed onto his hair "Say it."

"Why do women need everything verbalised; what's that all about?" He grouched plaintively.

"You wanted me to say it."

"Well hello; that's because it's all about ME!" He explained slowly.

Giggling, she stuck her nose against his and looked at him cross eyed "Say it."

Tugging one of her hands free of his hair, he laced their fingers together "I love you sweetheart; always."

Smiling big and wide, she slid off to curl up into his side and pulled his arm around herself "Always."

"Mmm." Reaching over he flipped of the light, grabbed the light blanket from the bottom of the bed and after settling it over them, spooned around her.

"Did you get a call from the JLA before or did you hear something?"

"I got a call." He replied amused.

"What's so funny?"

"Well I don't think they actually needed me to be honest. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if calling me for help so often lately, isn't just Ollie's newest trick of luring me into the JLA."

"Haven't you told him that you're joining?"

"I have now."

"How many times has he tried to lure you in the past?"

"Dozens and he's always failed." Clark grinned in reply "He's tried everything from coaxing to appealing to my better nature without any luck but his newest plan from what I can make out, was to simply show me how much fun I could have by joining."

Diverted at the tone of appreciation in his voice, she queried "Fun; what's fun about it? I thought the life of a super hero was all about helping other's and saving the world etc, etc."

Aghast at her naiveté, he advised patiently "Baby if you don't know that a perk of being a good guy, is outwitting and/or beating up the bad guys, then you have a lot to learn about heroes'."

"Why do men enjoy pummelling each other?" Lois sighed mystified.

"Why do women enjoy painting their toe nails?" Clark asked in a like manner.

Giggling, she turned around to face him "That's a dumb comparison."

"Is not, we all have our own definition of fun." He retorted snottily.

"Uh uh, well I imagine the same can be said for the bad guys about foiling and punching up you lot." She reminded him cheerfully.

"Hah! Unlike those pansies the good guys feel no pain; we dispense it." He retorted sneeringly.

"Oh please..." At his growl, Lois coughed and quickly amended "I mean, I'm sure you're right dear; but just remember, you can't beat anyone up because you have an unfair advantage."

"I know and it stinks; why can't I meet someone to really pound into?"

"Don't worry honey; I'm sure one day you will." She murmured consolingly.

"I hope so; anyway after finishing up we all went back to the watchtower and that's when I spilled the news about joining them after we're married."

"How'd they react?"

"Well I think Victor pretty much nailed all their sentiments when he yelled; it's about fucking time." Clark replied blandly.

She shook with laughter and patted his arm "What did Ollie say?"

"Not much; he just ponced around smiling proudly to himself. So I decided to let him believe my decision to join was all because of him." Clark chuckled softly.

"That was sweet."

"Sweet nothing; he thinks he owes me one and I'm happy to let him believe that too."

Slapping him on the back, Lois warned "Don't you dare take advantage of that man!"

"But babe..." When she smacked him again, he scowled and muttered "Fine but just so you know; I'm giving you a dirty look."

"I can't see it in the dark."

"That's why I'm telling you."

"So noted and FYI; I just rolled my eyes at you in return." She replied dryly.

"So noted; anyway after that news was out the talk moved onto my bachelor party, which apparently they've been planning ever since I called and broke the news of our engagement a couple of days ago. Since their ideas coincided with guys here, I gave Dean's phone number to Bruce, said I'd like to have one party with all my friends there and asked if they'd mind."

"And?"

"And I have a feeling my bachelor party is going to be pretty damn sweet."

"I'm glad; there's nothing worse than a crappy party."

"Too true." Clark yawningly agreed "But we need to get the invitations for the wedding out ASAP."

"You want me to do everything ASAP; including organising the wedding itself." She replied drolly.

"Yeah but this is really important; it's my bachelor party so I don't want to miss out."

"Why would you miss out?"

"Because I told the guys about your stipulation of holding it at least a week before; so Ollie said they need to know when the big day is, to ensure they don't piss of the bride." He replied patiently.

"I like the way you made me sound like the bad guy." Lois retorted tartly "Did you bother telling them about _your_ famous deadline?"

He grinned and kissed her cheek "Of course I did but I couldn't give them the date we decided on, since Ollie might accidentally spill the beans to Dean."

"So?"

"So, we can't give Dean an edge over everyone else."

"What?" Lois frowned uncomprehending "What edge and who's everyone else? You've lost me."

Debating for a beat whether he should break the news to her gently or just spit it out, Clark figured it really made no difference and simply replied "Merv's got a book on us."

Her mouth fell open in astonishment "What...when did you find out...what?"

"I found out yesterday when I was at the market and overheard a couple of people talking to Merv." He rubbed the side of his jaw sheepishly "It seems that we, along with Mark and Tina are the hot tickets in town right now. Not only are bet's being laid on when we're getting married but also on which couple is going to beat the other to the altar."

"The whole towns betting on us?"

"From what I can gather, they've been doing it since the night of the dance."

"The dance!" Lois sat up astounded "But that's..."

"And apparently it was in the cards for sometime before that; it just became official that night." He put in helpfully and tugged her back down to his side "So until we send out the invitations Merv will keep the book open but as soon as a wedding date is given, the book's closed permanently and will only open again under unusual circumstances."

"What's considered unusual?"

"Fire, plague, pestilence; anything that mean's the wedding has to be rescheduled but not called off because that's different."

"What if it's called off?"

"The money's returned to those who placed it. Merv never pays out until after the wedding is over just to be on the safe side."

"Well that seems fair enough but we were the one's betting on Mark and Tina; no one was supposed to be betting on us." She wailed insulted.

"Well they are." He replied unmoved.

"I can't believe it; don't these people have anything better to do with their time?"

"It seems not." He griped sourly "What I don't get is how I didn't figure out this was going to happen, considering I've done the same thing to others myself."

"Oh forget about your ego, what about me." She returned crabbily.

"Forget about you, what about my ego." He countered irked "All my good buddies have all been betting on me."

"Big deal, you bet on them too; I'm the newcomer to this town."

"Like I care; you're the one who got me into this mess." He came back rapidly.

"Like fun; you're the one who knew this town was a hotbed of gossip and dragged me into the limelight." She reminded him tartly and finished by poking him in the chest.

"But it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't screwed with my head in the first place; so it's your fault." He insisted stubbornly.

Lois snorted loudly at that, Clark snorted back in the same manner.

"You sound like a pig."

"So do you."

"I do not; you take that back." She sputtered indignantly and pushed against his arms.

Grinning, he held her tight and made grunting noises against her neck.

"Stop it...stop you...get away from me!"

Enjoying her squeals, Clark persisted until both of them were laughing like loons.

When their mirth was under control, she asked curiously "Can we at least make a few bucks out of this?"

"Nope, neither the family nor the couple involved are allowed to bet; it's in the rules." Clark yawned hugely in reply.

"Damn!" Pressing a hand against her mouth, she began to yawn then shot up in bed with a jump "Hang on; family aren't allowed to bet but I bet your mom knew about it."

"Oh yeah, she did." He tugged her down again "I asked her while you were talking to Chloe and she confessed all, including telling me it was the reason she came home."

"She came home just because people were betting on us."

"No, because she knew it had to be serious to get to that stage, since people will only part with their money on a sure thing." He laughed sleepily "This is a Smallville tradition that goes way back babe; mom and dad were on Merv's grandfather's books when they were courting."

Lois yawned once more "Seriously?"

"Uh huh; apparently my dear old dad was quite the ladies man back in the day but no sooner met mom, then bet's were being laid and the rest is history." Yawning a second time, he patted her hip and mumbled "Now shush and let me dream of laughing all the way to the bank when I bet on my friend's in the future and win."


	16. Chapter 16

Hi everyone,

I'm so pleased that people enjoyed the last chapter and thank you for the feedback, it's very much appreciated.

For those who wondered why I brought Chloe into the story, it's simple. For me she was a loose end that needed to be tied off before the end of the story.

Unlike the show itself which was famous for creating plots then dropping them into a black hole and expecting the viewers to either forget about them and/or figure out/decide what happened themselves (which is crappy storytelling as far as I'm concerned), I NEED resolution. So as I'd brought Chloe up several times in this story (most notably when Lois revealed to Clark the reason why she let Smallville and never returned), the Chloe/Lois situation had to be resolved on page.

However, keep in mind that as Lois left Smallville in this story after the first episode of S7, then everything that happened in the show from S7-10 didn't happen in this story (except for Lana shacking up with Clark for a few months and Kara arriving). As such, Chloe NEVER became Lana2 in this stories universe, as I thought she did in later seasons of the show.

Oh and yes, I left Jimmy alive and well because I will never EVER accept the rubbish that he wasn't the real Jimmy.

Anyway, I hope that explains my thought process.

Linda

oOo

**15****th**** September **_- Approx: 2am_

Coming awake with a gasping jerk, Lois shook her head to dispel the last of the dream and while patting her chest with one hand, reached back and patted Clark with the other when he grumbled at her movements "That's right handsome; you just keep right on sleeping while I try to restart my heart ok?"

"Hmm."

Closing her eyes she tried to go back to sleep but the myriad of tasks she still had to take care of for the wedding began running through her head, causing her to toss and turn while searching for oblivion once more.

Disgruntled at being woken up, Clark scowled at her in the darkness "Will you stay still."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

At his peevish murmur, she elbowed him lightly "Do I say anything when you get on my nerves?"

"Yes."

Knowing he was right, she simply elbowed him again "Oh just hush up and go to sleep."

Grunting in reply, he pushed his head deeper into the pillow and began to drift off but ended by flicking one eye open in exasperation when she once again began to shift restlessly bumping him in the process "Ok, that's it!"

Lois froze guiltily "I was trying not to wake you up."

"You just kicked me."

"I didn't mean to and why aren't you asking if I'm injured or something?" She asked snippily.

"I don't need to ask because I know you're not."

"How?"

"Firstly because my body is relaxed in sleep and secondly because I'm sure you'd have been howling your head off about it if you were." He retorted unchivalrously.

"Oh!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Heaving out a deep breath, Clark pinched the bridge of his nose and growled "Sweetheart, I know some women like to think men can read their minds, but we can't. I also know that some women like their other half to coax their problems out of them and although I'll be happy to indulge you once in a while, the middle of the night is not one of those times. Now speaking on behalf of most men worldwide, we're fairly direct creatures at heart. So if we ask a woman what's wrong and she says nothing, then we're going to assume she's speaking the truth. Therefore it's damned frustrating to later find out that she was lying, yet somehow we're the bad guys for taking her at her word and in the doghouse because of it." When Lois began to giggle, he glowered fiercely "Don't toy with me. Either tell me what's on your mind or leave me alone so I can go back to sleep."

In return, she cuddled into him and mumbled "You'll think it's stupid."

"Oh geez; you're going to make me wheedle it out of you aren't you?"

Ignoring the doleful whine in his voice, she nodded "Only a little."

Likewise nodding in defeat, he pursed his lips in contemplation "Can I have a hint."

Deciding that was enough coaxing, she sighed heavily "Well I can't help worrying about how quickly the time is flying by when I've still got so much to organise before the wedding."

Appreciating that her interpretation of a hint was the whole story, which in turn saved him from going bonkers trying to figure out the problem, Clark patted her hip in thanks even as his brow wrinkled "What's to organise? I thought all the grunt work was supposed to be done by the co-ordinator."

"Well that was the intention but since someone decided we were getting married in a month, I've still got a lot to do and only a small amount of time to do it all in." She sighed hugely in reply.

Not missing the dig, he poked her in the side and replied "Yeah but since someone else managed to push the wedding date back to get herself an extension, how she can complain about not having enough time is beyond me."

"It was pushed back one lousy day, yet anyone would think it was a year the way you carry on." Lois reminded him pithily.

"One day, one year it was still pushed back." Clark grumbled stubbornly.

Ignoring him, she rolled her eyes "And that was only because I thought getting married on a Saturday, would suit more people."

"It would have been cheaper during the week and suited me even more." He muttered in return.

Knowing he was just putting it on, Lois sighed heavily in remorse and burrowed in closer "Is it any wonder I'm having nightmares."

Pursing his lips, Clark patted her back consolingly "Ok, I'll forgive you."

"Gee thanks."

Choosing to overlook the sarcasm, he replied charitably "You're welcome, now why can't you sleep?"

"I'm having a crappy night altogether." She griped wretchedly "It started earlier….."

"Would that be earlier tonight after I screwed you through the mattress?" He interrupted to clarify.

"Yuh huh." She confirmed readily.

"That should be the start of a good night's sleep."

"Yeah it should have but instead…." She paused when he made a yummy noise and asked politely "Want me to keep going?"

"Hmmm, you keep talking while I do a slow mental replay of our acrobats earlier."

"Ok, well before I dropped off to sleep I had this awful feeling of vertigo which made me feel quite sick for a minute or two, then when I finally did go to sleep I had an even more awful dream where I was falling and now I can't go back to sleep because my mind keeps running in circles about all the wedding stuff I still have to take care of before the big day."

At her words all humour fled as his antenna went on alert "Was it a dream or a vision?"

"A dream."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh huh, I've never had a vision when I was asleep so it has to be a dream."

"But didn't you tell me your very first vision about the plane crash was a dream?"

"No, I wrote it off as one because I didn't know what else to think at the time, so figured I must have dozed off but this was an actual dream."

Or it could be a first, Clark tacked on silently. Either way, not liking what he was hearing, he sat up and switched on the light "Have you had it while awake, even once?"

Blinking her eyes clear, Lois hesitated before reluctantly nodding "This afternoon but I was in the middle of…."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He interrupted impatiently.

"Because it was nothing more than a teeny weeny, 'woah that was strange' kind of moment; sort of like déjà vu…."

"Déjà vu is a feeling of having experienced something before." He cut in abruptly "So does that mean it wasn't the first time you've had the teeny weeny 'woah that was strange' moment?" He finished suspiciously.

"Of course not, it was the first time until I felt funny before falling asleep but since I was organising wedding stuff earlier and thinking about it again when I closed my eyes tonight, I figured that must have been it." At the disbelief on his face, she remarked patiently "Some people really do lose it over stuff like that you know and although I'm not one of them I….."

"You're losing sleep because of it, so I'd say you qualify as one of them." He disputed forthright. When her mouth opened in protest, he waved one hand uninterested "What are you falling from?"

"It was a dream." She replied sulkily.

Ignoring her manner, he pushed again "I'm talking about the episode you had earlier today."

"It wasn't an episode, it wasn't even a moment; it was a moment of a moment and…"

"Lois!" Clark snapped impatiently.

"I don't know." She muttered pettishly.

"Well how high did it feel like you were falling from? Are you talking about the height of a footstool or an airplane?"

"I don't know." She repeated again "Anyway I thought you wanted to know why I couldn't sleep."

"Right now I want to know more about this vision you've had." He retorted flatly.

"It wasn't a vision; it was a moment of a moment." She insisted stubbornly.

"That you had while you were awake." He reminded her with a growl.

"Well yeah but like I've been trying to tell you, I think it was just a manifestation of my anxieties about getting everything ready in time for the wedding not…."

"Will you forget about the bloody wedding?" He barked impatiently. When her lips folded mutinously, Clark dug for patience, thought to hell with it and announced resolutely "Right, well here's what you're going to do; you're going to forget about the wedding because we're going to be married by a JP first thing tomorrow so that takes care of that and from now on, you're not to climb on anything higher than an ottoman if I'm not around."

"I am not going to be married by a JP and that's that!" Lois returned emphatically.

"What's wrong with a JP?"

"I want a proper wedding." She replied resolutely.

"Well I don't want you worrying yourself to death about it."

"I'm not, there just happens to be a lot more details to take care of than I realised is all."

"There are only two details that really matter..." He countered abruptly "The first is for the two of us to say I do and the second is for the license to be signed making it official. The rest is just a lot of superfluous fluff which isn't important."

At that she likewise sat up and poked him in the chest, hard "Now you listen to me Clark Kent; I have never in my life imagined what my wedding day would be like. Never tried to picture how I'd look or who the man would be but now that I'm actually getting married to the man I love, although goodness only knows why that's you…." She poked him again "….all the stuff which I never cared enough to think about before, IS important to me. I want the dress and the flowers and all the other superfluous fluff damn it!" At his grunt, she folded her arms and glared "I want a pretty wedding, not a 5 minute rush job by a JP."

"Fine; then from now on leave the organising of it up to the professionals." He countered swiftly "You've told the Selina what you want and as the wedding planner, it's her job to provide it but she doesn't need your unsolicited advice or guidance unless asked." Paying no attention to her burble of protest, he continued remorselessly "Only concern yourself with the stuff that you have to take care of whatever that may be. If I so much as catch you poking your nose in and trying to take over from Selina, I'll pick you up and fly us to Vegas, clear!"

"I haven't tried to take over; I was simply being helpful so there." Lois retorted huffily and lying down again, turned her back on him.

"Well it's her job so butt out!" Unmoved by all puffing and blowing he could hear coming from his fiancée, he continued ruthlessly "And if you have any more episodes or moments or bad dreams where you're in danger, I expect to be told about them." Getting no response, he gave her arm a jiggle "Understood."

"Big bully."

"_Understood!_"

"Hmpff!"

Taking that as agreement Clark switched off the light and curled around her "Goodnight sweetheart."

"Pffft!"

Pressing a kiss to the back of her head in return, he closed his eyes and was out.

Indignant that he'd gone back to sleep instead of sucking up, Lois lay there picturing him begging forgiveness until convinced that he'd actually done so and fell back asleep in complete charity with her honey.

oOo

**19****th**** September **_– Approx 5.30pm_

Seeing the harassed expression marring her cousin's face, Lois pulled the door open wider and waved her inside the house "Do you want a glass of scotch, or should I just hand you the bottle?"

"Is scotch the strongest thing you've got?" Chloe retorted unsmiling and stomped inside.

Pursing her lips in reply, she swung the door closed and cautiously followed then almost burst out laughing at finding her cousin lying face down on the couch in the lounge room, throwing what could only be a tantrum. The kicking legs, the hands pounding into the cushions and the muffled screeching were dead giveaways.

Wiping all signs of amusement from her face when Chloe sat up calmly a minute later, she smiled brightly "Feel better?"

In reply, Chloe growled and snatching up her purse from the floor where she'd thrown it, pulled out several sheets of paper and held them out "Read that."

"What is it?"

"I don't want to say because I want your opinion without any input from me."

Taking a seat on the facing recliner, Lois nodded "Ok, well if you really want a drink you know where the alcohol's kept, otherwise just help yourself to whatever."

"Where are the guys?"

"Out back, Clark's got a new lawn mower and weed whacker he was keen on trying out; so he's out there playing with his toys and Attila's out there bugging him."

Nodding dejectedly, Chloe headed to the kitchen and after helping herself to a glass of iced tea, returned to sit quietly, while her cousin read the article she'd written.

Looking up when she was done, Lois wondered how she could tactfully say what needed to be said, in a way that wouldn't crush her cousin's feelings "For a first draft it's got a lot of potential..."

"That's my fifth draft." Chloe cut in to announce evenly.

"Well for a fifth draft it's..." She searched for something to say and repeated lamely "...got a lot of potential..."

"It's garbage." Chloe summed up neatly.

"It's not garbage." Lois refuted plainly "It's just kind of dry and..." At the impatient sigh from her cousin, she admitted candidly "It's not compelling reading and considering the subject matter, it should be."

"I know." Chloe raked one hand through her hair in frustration and fell back against the couch "You know what's really disheartening? When I wasn't assigned to the City Beat Section I was bitterly disappointed but figured if I worked hard, I'd earn my stripes and one day move into investigative journalism but now I can't help wondering if my boss made the right call by sticking me in the Features Department."

"Well your boss would know where your talents are best utilised Chlo." Lois put in tactfully.

"Yeah but I still wanted the opportunity of proving I could be the next Nellie Bligh given the right material. Yet when I actually get the opportunity of a lifetime handed to me on a silver platter, I just can't cut it." She sighed heavily in defeat.

"But Nellie Bligh didn't wait for opportunity to come knocking on her door Chloe, she went out looking for it; so holding out for stories to drop into your lap in order to prove yourself wasn't umm…." Lois trailed off with an apologetic shrug.

Sitting up at that, Chloe stared at her nonplussed for a couple of beats before once more falling back against the couch cushions in defeat "Remember when I told you that I had to work damn hard to hold onto my career years ago?" Lois nodded silently "Well about six months after I started putting the same effort into my job that I'd previously put into being Clark's go to girl, my boss told me he was pleased with my progress." She smiled slightly in remembrance of that day "That evaluation was yet another turning point for me Lo. It was brought home how close I'd come to getting the sack but when my boss said that he'd noticed my improved attitude and hoped it would continue, I was so relieved that I'd managed to turn his opinion of me around before it was too late, that all I've done since then is play it safe to ensure I didn't screw up again. Although I've slowly moved up the ranks, I haven't taken any risks to get there, nor done anything to make myself stand out and be noticed. I'm a good reporter but not outstanding." Her smile turned down at the corners "My biggest achievement is having a boss who knows that I'll put in the time to complete any stories he assigns me."

"That's not a bad thing Chlo; a dependable employee is worth their weight in gold and although you think that you haven't achieved much, the fact that you've moved up the ranks at all tells me a different story." Lois informed her frankly "If your talents weren't worth cultivating, at least one of the department heads you've worked under over the years would have stuck you in a dead end position that didn't lead to advancement and they would have told you why long before now."

"I know but it kind of stings to realise that walking the straight and narrow all this time so I didn't screw up again, has in turn hurt my career in the process."

"No it hasn't." Lois negated then frowned in query "But I am a little confused; from what you said previously, I thought you were happy with your job at the Planet."

"I was….I am, but I've wanted to be an investigative reporter since I was a kid not…." Chloe trailed off with an unhappy shrug.

"But you're not a kid anymore." Lois remarked pointedly "So the question I'm asking is if that's still your dream or do you feel that it has to be, simply because it was once upon a time?"

Chloe's lips twisted "The second I guess."

"Well dreams can change or adapt Chlo and it sounds like yours has." She cocked her head to the side and gave a small smile "Do you like working in features?"

"Yeah."

"And are you proud of the work you do there?"

"Yeah."

"Then pining for what you no longer want seems to be a waste of emotion to me."

"But it was a dream Lois and unless you had one as a kid, then you wouldn't understand." She retorted peeved.

"I understand wallowing in misery all too well and although I don't approve of it, I'll give you one minute to do it. After that it seems to me that you're just being horribly self-indulgent and I've got better things to do than listen to you whine." She returned bluntly.

"I'll whine and moan all I want and if you don't care to listen then you…you….you can….you….can…" Unable to control the giggles that continued to pop out of her mouth at the ridiculous things she was saying, Chloe gave up the effort to talk and began to laugh helplessly.

Wiping the tears from her eyes minutes later, she looked at her cousin and saw the satisfied expression on her face "Bitch; you did that deliberately."

"Yeah but being miserable just because you realise that you no longer want something, is silly you know." Lois told her gently.

"I know but you have to admit it's kind of ironic that delving into the strange goings on in Smallville is what really got me into investigative reporting, while writing the article on Clark is what made me realise my career goals had changed without me even noticing it." She asked with a tiny smile.

"I don't know if I can agree with that." Lois admitted apologetically "The second part yeah but from recollection, it was the weird and unexplained that fascinated you and moving to Smallville simply fed that need when you found there were a lot of weird things going on. However, I don't think you can really put deeply investigating a mystery like meteor infected people for example, under the same umbrella as deeply investigating something like political corruption because they're two entirely different fields. The first is….well it's and the second is…." Trailing off with an uneasy gulp, Lois cleared her throat softly.

"The first is something Mystery Inc. would do to solve spooky mysteries, while the second is something an investigative reporter would do to expose corruption." Chloe summed up dismayed "I've wasted my time."

"No you have not." Lois countered firmly "Unless you're living in cartoon or are independently wealthy, you can't afford to spend your time as the Scooby gang do and expect to make a living from it. Besides it was your love of mysteries that led you to being a reporter and dreaming of working at the Daily Planet, which you are. So that's a hell of an achievement in itself and the opportunity a lot of reporters would give their eye teeth for."

"Yeah." She looked at Lois and confessed slightly embarrassed "I really am fascinated by mysteries, whether it's the Bermuda Triangle or Big Foot, more than I am in plain old crime and corruption."

"Well when it comes right down to it, crime and corruption is just about greedy people and what's so fascinating about them?" Lois asked dryly.

Smiling, she nodded in accord "True but what'd I do about Clark?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Well he asked me to write the story about him and although I've taken my time writing and re-writing the piece to ensure I hit all the right notes and thereby justify his faith in me, I can't seem to get the words to say what I want."

"Chlo, the fact that you've been so meticulous with this article does justify Clark's faith in you; so don't go thinking otherwise." Lois replied honestly "And you still have time to work on it since he's not going to reveal himself to the world as the newest super-hero until after we're married."

"Can I ask why?" She asked curiously.

Lois threw up her hands confounded "He won't tell me; I've asked him more than once what he's waiting for but he just smiles. All I know is that until we're married, he's going to remain under wraps. He's adamant about that and won't budge." With a quick head shake, she continued "However, that works in your favour because we're not getting married for another 2 weeks and 3 days. Add our honeymoon on top of it and you've got a clear 3 and half weeks to ensure the articles ready to go for when he does make his grand appearance."

"Yeah but as I said before, that's my fifth attempt." She pointed to the papers in her cousin's hand "I've known Clark since we were kids, so actually thought this stupid story would write itself…pffft what a joke." She snorted indelicately and continued rolling on "I was really flattered when he first asked me to do this but now I'm so frustrated, it's become nothing but a chore." Pushing up from the couch, she walked aimlessly around the room "I spent over two hours grilling him for details about himself to ensure I wouldn't leave out anything important and for what? I've wasted his time and mine because I can't write the bloody thing." Slumping back down on the couch, she looked at her cousin and sighed for the third time in as many minutes "I'm going to let him down."

"No you're not." Lois contradicted steadily. Reaching out, she clasped her cousin's hand and gave it a squeeze "The article's not bad Chlo, it just doesn't read like an introduction heralding Clark's superhero career into the spotlight which is what it needs. There's an overabundance of facts, as if you're just filling in the blanks for people because they're already aware of him as the mysterious stranger or whatever you want to call him. While the tone suggests that everyone is going to throw open their doors and welcome him with open arms as the world's newest saviour, and that's naive." She gave a small crooked smile and confessed "Some people don't even believe the Blur is real Chlo and I know that because I was one of them until recently."

"Really?"

"Mmm hmm; oh I'd read accounts of him in the paper of course but since no one had actually seen him and the most people could claim was to hear a woosh as he went by, or knew of someone, who knew of someone, who knew of someone who'd been saved in some fantastical fashion by a burry figure, I simply put him down as the newest urban legend and we all know how credible they are." She raised her brows in query and at her cousin's nod, smiled crookedly "Most people tend to fall into one of four categories regarding Clark's alter ego and they've all been influenced by what they've heard or read about him to some extent. The first group don't believe he exists at all. The second are simply grateful he's around but don't think about him any deeper than that. The third see him as a romantic figure shrouded in mystique, while the last view him as an unknown quantity and wonder what he's got to hide since he's never shown his face."

She paused and asked without preamble "Do you think of Clark as an alien?"

"What….no!" Chloe replied shocked.

"Well he is." Lois stated bluntly "You can use whatever PC words you like but take away the wrappings and the veneer of politeness and what you're left with is the unvarnished truth; Clark Kent is an alien. Moreover, he's an alien with super-powers the likes of which no one's seen before and that's going to make some people uncomfortable."

"I don't know if I agree with that Lo; I mean half the JLA is made up of aliens and humans who have powers of some sort, and people are just fine with it." Chloe protested swiftly.

"Are you sure about that?" Her brow winged up "Not everything I've read about superheroes and/or the JLA has been positive; most of it, yeah but not all. Now you can dismiss those who regard the JLA with suspicion despite all the good they've done, and you can laugh at people who see conspiracies around every corner, and you can shake your head in pity at those who are prejudiced against anyone who doesn't conform to their definition of normality but for a small group, they can make a lot of noise and stir up a lot of trouble." She sat forward and continued emphatically "Ignorance breeds fear and the only way to combat that is with knowledge. Now from the little I remember about reporting, the writer is supposed to remain objective and although I know it's hard in this situation given the subject matter, I think you should take this opportunity to address ALL the people and not just those in favour of superheroes."

"It's hard not to push my own agenda though." Chloe remarked thoughtfully.

"I think you should push your own agenda; I would." Lois shrugged uncaring.

"But you just said….."

"I said you're supposed to remain objective Chlo; **_supposed_ **to…" She corrected emphatically "….but if I was a reporter, I'd do everything I could to make the public love Clark, all while pretending that I was completely neutral about the subject." Lois admitted without shame "My goal would be to ensure that people understood my superhero hasn't come out of the wood work with all his powers on display to one day enslave the world but to help it and on occasion, to save it."

At the slow nod, she nodded in return "You're biased in favour of superheroes and that's fine but rather than just dismissing those who aren't out of hand, take this opportunity to reach out to them. Words carry a lot of weight and you never know how many people you can win over with this one article. Clark's a big boy; let him worry about proving himself to all the naysayers. Your job is to simply launch him into the public arena as an ally, while pretending to be impartial." Finished, she sat back and smiled sheepishly "Sorry, I didn't mean to tell you how to do your job."

The small smile that began to touch Chloe's mouth while her cousin talked continued to grow.

Seeing the smile on her face, Lois deduced that she hadn't offended her and remarked cheerfully "So, are you now ready to write the article of a lifetime?"

"Yeah but not the one you think." She replied simply and at Lois' frown, remarked "Do you know what the biggest problem with my article is Lo, I tackled it in the same way I write any story for features while trying to make it sound like an investigative expose but there are multiple problems with that. The first of which is that I haven't investigated anything and the second is that a features article goes into depth and gives details which leads me to the biggest problem." She leant forward and asked "This is supposed to be the article that launches Clark into the public arena but how would I know all the facts that I've put about him into the story, when I'm not supposed to know him?"

Thrown, Lois blinked "You wouldn't."

"Right and even the luckiest reporter in the world wouldn't manage score an interview with the most elusive being on the planet, BEFORE he'd even made his debut; you agree?" Chloe asked straight faced.

"Yes." Lois' lips quivered with suppressed laughter.

"Ok and although I can say that I investigated the Blur, which is how I managed to get the information to write the story, where did I get it from? It's not like there's a repository of information readily available for any would be passer-by to stumble across by accident. Sure there's the Fortress, but who's going to find it in the middle of nowhere and how will they access the information before Jor-el knocks them on their ass for intruding?" At her cousin's snort, she grinned then continued in a sober voice "I only have two viable sources of information that I can cite neither of which is an option; the first is the Blur himself and the second is the JLA."

"You can't do either."

"No I can't, we've already covered why I can't use Clark, so let's move onto the JLA. They've guarded his privacy for years and have stated more than once that when or if he's ready to step out, he will but until then they're not going to betray his confidence just to satisfy people's curiosity. So what reason could I give for them suddenly deciding to open up and talk to me of all people, when they've flatly refused all requests in the past and who'd trust them in future, if I pointed my finger in their direction now?"

"No one." Lois confirmed succinctly.

"Precisely and even if I say I'm protecting my source to expose the truth, what truth am I exposing; that the Blur is an evil person who I'm protecting the world from; no. He's a good person who helps the JLA when called? So I'll come off looking bad for hunting him down just to get answers and my article will be regarded as little more than a scandal mongering expose even though I won't be saying anything bad, correct?" At the slow nod, she nodded in return "And lastly to bring it all full circle, as I mentioned before, a features article goes into depth and gives substance to the subject but Clark stepping out as the Blur for the first time is breaking news and needs to be reported as such."

"Ok and so…." Lois paused and asked hesitantly "Sorry Chloe, I'm kinda lost. Where is all this leading?"

"I can't write the first article introducing Clark to the world." She summed up neatly.

"What? Why not; you just said…."

"Lo, the only way I can write this article and be completely factual, is to approach it as an exclusive interview with the Blur and I can only do that AFTER, he's made his first appearance to the world."

"Ok I get that but can't you write both?"

"Because a features article and a hot of the press news bulletin have two different tones and writing the second isn't my strong suit." She replied frankly "Trying to incorporate both into one article isn't possible so I prefer to stick to my strengths. I'm good in features; hell I'm great so I'd rather concentrate my efforts there and do Clark justice in an article that will draw my readers in and keep them hooked from the first word to the last."

Hearing the confidence in her voice, Lois smiled.

Feeling a renewed surge of purpose, Chloe sat forward excited "I'll leave the breaking story of Clark's debut to another who's talent outshines mine in that area and stick to what I do best; write an in depth feature article about him that will blow people's socks off and make my editor weep with joy."

Catching onto her enthusiasm, Lois grinned "Are you sure you're ok with another reporter writing the story that launches him to the world though?"

"Yep." She replied simply "The first story about him is going to be huge there's no doubt about that, but mine isn't going to be small potatoes either, so I'm just fine with it and don't you worry, I'm also going to stop talking about him like he's a rock star and do as you suggested; try and reach out to those who don't love superheroes as much as I do." Seeing the spreading smile bigger on her cousins' face, she rubbed her hands together "I can't wait to get home and get started."

"Can you wait until after dinner?" Lois asked hopefully "Clark can fly you home when you're ready and that will save you a 3 hour drive now."

"You're on." She agreed with a smile "By the way, I got my invitation to the wedding. Do you want me to send a formal response or is my RSVP now good enough?"

"Now's fine um….." Lois cleared her throat and asked hesitantly "Chlo, I hope you understood when I explained about my bridesmaids…."

Holding up one hand, she looked her cousin straight in the eye "Lo I'd love to stand up with you but I understand that in the 15 years we didn't see each other, you made some extremely good friends who you love and that can't simply be pushed aside as if they don't matter just because we found each other again. I'd be hurt if my girlfriends did that to me, so I completely understood why you didn't do it to yours."

"Thank you." She smiled relieved.

"There's room for all of us in your life and you know; I'm really looking forward to meeting them. From what you've told me they sound like fun."

"They are; which I suppose sounds kind of conceited because they're very much like me in personality." She smiled cheerfully "Anyway, they're arriving next Friday and staying through the week leading up to the wedding but you'll actually get to meet them next Saturday at my hen's night." Her brow cocked up "Which you insisted on organising, so care to tell me what you've got planned?"

Chloe smiled big and wide "We're going to a club in Metropolis that puts on this all male naughty Burlesque and comedy show. It gets pretty raunchy but in a funny way not a disgusting one and then after the show is over, the nightclub starts up. I went there a couple of years ago with a bunch of friends from work and we had a ball."

"It sounds similar to a place that I went to for a friend's bachelorette do last year." Lois smiled pleased "Do we get dinner or are we going somewhere else first?"

"Dinner, desert and soft drinks are covered by the admission price. We only have to pay for any alcoholic beverages that we purchase and when I say we, I don't mean you."

"That's the part I like about being the hen the most." She giggled happily "Wait till I tell Carol and Anne, we all had a ball at Heather's do last year so I know they'll enjoy it."

Chloe coughed lightly "Actually, Tina got their number from Clark who got it off your phone and she gave them a call. I was going to but got bogged down with work so asked her if she wouldn't mind. Anyway, they know all about it and are looking forward to it."

"I'm really looking forward to all of you meeting them." She tilted her head curiously "It's also nice to see you renewing acquaintances with some of the women in town that you knew back in the day."

"Yeah, it's funny huh, I've spent more time in Smallville in the past couple of weeks than I have in over a dozen years and it's been really great catching up with some of the people I knew in school. Although, I suppose it's more accurate to say that I knew of them but didn't really know them, and the same is true in reverse." Chloe smiled reflectively "In school I spent most of my time buried at the Torch, or chasing down stories for the Torch or chasing after Clark, while he chased after Lana." She stopped and grinned "Gee that sounds dumb and yet it was all so important back then."

"Not all of it was dumb; at least the Torch part wasn't." Lois grinned heartily.

Chuckling she nodded in agreement "No the Torch part was fun but I wish that I'd spent some time getting to know Tina, Anne and Kate at least. It's a shame because we were all in school together but they were part of the pretty popular crowd and I hate to say it, but in school I tended to write that lot off as too frivolous for my taste. Yet getting to know them the past few weeks, I've found they're really nice and no different to the rest of us." Her mouth crooked up "Considering what I thought of cheerleaders and they're ilk, it's almost scary to wonder what they thought of my crowd which consisted of me, Pete, Clark and occasionally Lana."

"I never met Pete but from what you told me years ago, he sounded like a pretty cool guy but as for the rest of you, well…." Lois rolled her eyes and at the poked out tongue she received in reply, grinned "I'm joking; you were one of my favourite people but as for Clark and Lana; well I used to think a good dose of Prozac once a day would have done them both the world of good."

"Not anymore." Chloe replied slyly.

"Him no but what she needs is to have the vanity slapped right out of her." Lois returned flatly.

At that, Chloe's brows rose "Have you seen her?"

"A few weeks ago…." She grimaced then waved one hand "It's not important. Anyway getting back to what we were talking about, I knew that Anne, Tina and Kate were all good friends but I didn't know it went back to when they were in school together."

"Yeah, Kate and Anne were on the cheerleading squad together and although Tina wasn't, she was part of their group, so I just lumped them all in together as being ditzy." She smiled crookedly "You know what kids are like."

"Mmm, it's nice that they're all still friends." Lois smiled somewhat regretfully "Moving around so much with daddy, I don't have anyone that goes back that far."

"You have me." Chloe reminded her softly "I know it probably doesn't seem that way but…."

"Yes it does." She cut in gently "The years in between are gone but we did have each other when we were kids and we have each other again. Plus I have some good friends now and that's what matters." With a quick headshake, Lois got back to the subject "What about Ginny and Lucy?"

"I only knew them in passing; I'm pretty sure Lucy moved here in our last year of school and Ginny was a year behind us, so I saw her around town but didn't actually know her…" She paused and flashed out a smile "Clark introduced me to Dean Marshall a few weeks ago and all I have to say is hubba hubba."

Lois chortled out a laugh.

"I met Anne's husband and their little boy last weekend…" She shook her head confounded "Peter's a little cutie and his dimpled smile captures your heart but Alan, wow; he surprised me. He seems so bland and awkward and Anne is so outgoing and friendly, yet you can see that she's completely devoted to him."

"Believe me when I say the feeling is completely mutual." Lois drawled amused "Clark told me he's quiet but friendly with the men, so I'd say his diffidence only extends towards women but Anne is not one of them."

"Really?" Chloe asked intrigued.

"Mmm hmm, I caught him looking at her once and I swear that I felt singed by the heat."

"Lucky woman."

"Yep."

Letting out a huge sigh, Chloe nodded "Ok, well…..where was I?"

Lois' brow wrinkled "I think you've covered most of the women in our age group that I'm friends with, so now it's onto the men except for Dean who you've already mentioned."

"Ok, well Grahame Anderson; now he's dating Kate right?"

"Uh huh."

"Well I saw him and Tim in school but since they're both older than me, I didn't actually know them. Neil was in my year level and friendly with everyone." Her lips crooked up "I don't know how many times he was kicked out of class for clowning around but he never let that stop him from doing it the next time and the next and the next." At her cousin's laugh, she nodded "You two had a lot in common."

"I wasn't kicked out into the hallway for clowning around but for talking too much." Lois retorted loftily.

"Right sorry…" She replied gravely "Anyone else?"

"Mark Thompson, Tina's fiancé but since he's a couple of years younger than her, and she was in your class, I figure you wouldn't have known him either."

"Oh I didn't know him personally but I did hear lots about him." Chloe grinned and wiggled her brows meaningfully.

Intrigued, she sat forward "What'd you mean?"

"He was the school lothario."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, kids gossip and word filters through; apparently the girls really loved him and he loved them right back."

Lois laughed richly in amusement "That's kind of cute, especially since I know it was him that pursued Tina from the word go and not the other way around."

"I'd say it was poetic justice that the roué was finally caught." Chloe supplied with a chuckle "Although one could say the same about you and Clark these days."

Lois' shook her head bemused "Who knew the brooding farm boy of years ago would turn into a ladies man when he grew up."

"Who knew my freewheeling cousin would fall for him and choose to settle down?" Chloe tossed in cheekily.

"Oh the shame." Lois covered her eyes dramatically.

"I think it's perfect and not something anyone could have predicted. Then again if anyone had told me back in the day what Clark would be like now, I would have laughed in their face." She smiled lopsided "He was so serious about everything but I suppose that I can't really talk, since I could be too."

"Sometimes but I think in your case, it was more a result of Clark and Lana's influence on you. Neither of them were cheerful people to be around and you copped it from both sides."

"Don't remind me." She moaned pitifully "Between the two of them I don't know who could be more depressing some days. It's a miracle that I ever survived my school years without turning into a raving lunatic listening to all their crap."

"Well given my lack of tolerance for it, I think it's a bigger miracle that I never told either of them to shut their cake-holes." Lois replied dryly.

At that Chloe began to howl with laughter and found it hard to stop, which in turn set Lois off.

Hearing the shrieks outside, Clark's brow cocked up.

X-raying into the house, he saw the women holding onto their stomachs rocking with laughter then looked down when Attila began to woof in accord. Figuring the hilarity was some bit of feminine nonsense that was more than likely at some poor man's expense, he muttered "Women" and continued on with his task.

Opening the back door 10 minutes later, he stepped inside feeling more than a little gratified at his day's work "All done babe…" Pausing at the high-pitched bark, he looked down and rolled his eyes when Attila scooted between his feet and launched himself into the lounge room.

Before the women could blink, a rocket of fur scampered to Chloe's side for a pat before leaping into Lois' lap woofing joyfully in excitement at her presence.

"Did you have fun?" Clark opened his mouth to answer, noticed she was talking to the dog who was yipping happily in return and rolled his eyes.

"Hey Chloe."

"Hi Clark, how'd the lawn mower and weed whacker work out?"

"Like a dream; I'm only sorry that I ran out of lawn to mow and weeds to whack but they'll grow back and I'll be ready." He replied buoyantly "Do either of you ladies want a drink?"

"I'll get them, you go have a shower." Lois called back and passing the dog to her cousin, made her way into the kitchen.

"I don't need a shower."

"You're not sitting on the couch in those clothes and since you have to change clothes, you might as well have a shower." She returned and gently tried to herd him in the direction of the hallway without success.

Planting his feet solidly, Clark refused to budge "I want a beer."

"It'll only take you two minutes to have a shower, so stop whining. The beer will still be here when you're done." She retorted unsympathetically and pressing her back against him, pushed.

"It'll take me less than 2 minutes to down a beer." He returned stubbornly.

"It'll take you considerably longer because we both know you won't just have a beer; something else will distract you and then I won't be able to move you until bed time."

"Bed time huh..." Slipping an arm around her waist, Clark pulled her flush against his chest and grinned devilishly "Tell you what; you agree to have a shower with me and I'll go now."

"We've got company." Lois hissed and nodded towards the lounge room.

"So we do." Swinging around, he called out cheerfully "Lois has to help me find something in the shower Chloe. So you just make yourself at home and keep Attila company; we'll see you in a couple of hours ok."

"What does she need to help you find?" Chloe asked with mock innocence.

"Some modesty" Lois called out and pinching his side, pushed once more "Will you go and have a shower."

"Ok, but you owe me."

"I don't owe you anything."

"Yes you do." He corrected swiftly "You rubbed your back against me and that's teasing without any payoff."

"I was using my back to push you." She remarked slowly.

"That's what you say now, but I know better." He returned loftily, and strolled out of the kitchen feeling like a winner.

Shaking her head, Lois looked at her cousin and sighed loudly "Can you believe I'm marrying that man of my own volition?"

With a snigger, Chloe set the dog on the floor and chuckled when he raced into the kitchen ahead of her to sit pointedly beside his bowl. Looking at her cousin, she remarked mock innocently "You seem to be surrounded by males who aren't shy about displaying their appetites."

"That I do." She hooted with laughter "Can you please toss some kibble in Attila's bowl but not too much because he's a little glutton."

"What'd you mean?"

"I mean he loves to eat and he especially loves to eat when we do. So if you give him a generous serving of kibble now, he'll either eat it all and eat dinner and succeed in making himself sick in the process. Or, he'll eat all the kibble now, not have dinner and then whine for something in an hour." She shook her head amused "For a little thing he can certainly pack it away but I don't want my lack of backbone to jeopardise his heath, so I've had to teach myself to ignore his sad eyes and just say no."

"Wuss." Chloe announced with a chuckle.

"Leave me alone."

When Attila sniffed at the small amount of kibble in his bowl, then looked at her reproachfully Chloe steeled herself from giving him more and whispered "Shit Lo, how do you say no to that face?"

"Don't look him in the eye." She warned seriously "He's a master manipulator who knows how to sucker you in. Just drag your eyes away and when he starts whining, just ignore it. He'll get tired and give up in a minute or two."

"Got it." After a couple of minutes, she took a quick peek and cringed inwardly "Lo, he's finished the kibble and he sounds really hungry."

"I know." Swinging around, she imparted brightly "Dinner will be ready soon boy." Then turned back and pulled open the fridge door.

Stepping into the kitchen 10 seconds later, Clark announced loudly to the dog "Knock it off!" Then looked at the women and shook his head in pity "You're both pathetic to the power of pathetic."

Simultaneously their shoulders hunched in defence and their faces flushed.

"We weren't going to give in." Lois returned spiritedly.

"Oh yeah, then why are you holding a big fat sausage and why is Chloe's hand in the bag of kibble?" He asked pleasantly.

The women looked at each other, then away.

"I haven't quite mastered the art of saying no, it's a learning process." Lois admitted shamefaced.

"You're a weakling and Attila knows it." Clark summed up bluntly then turned and addressed Chloe "And now he knows there's a second wimp he can sucker in."

"I could see Lois' resolve was crumbling, so pretended mine was as well to make her feel better." Chloe lied hastily and at the scornful looks she received from both, gave it up and took a seat at the table opposite Clark "Shut up."

Giving her shoulder a pat, Lois smiled in commiseration "Don't worry Chlo, what would you like to drink?"

"I'll have another iced tea please."

Nodding, she passed out the desired beverages and looked down at the soft ruff. Smirking, she picked up the beast and pointed at Clark "If you want something to eat now, try your tricks with him." Attila woofed mournfully in reply but when she placed him back on the floor, he didn't waste time trying to con the master of the house, just trotted into the lounge room and sulkily climbed into his day bed for a short snooze.

More than satisfied, Lois began to busy herself pulling out the makings for dinner and at the offer of help, waved it away "Thanks Chlo but I've got it; we're just having toasted sandwiches and potato wedges so I can't screw it up." She paused and tacked on "Well I used to but now that I've got a sandwich maker, I don't." Nodding at her fiancée, she advised "Hon, I told Chloe you'd drop her home later ok." At his nod, she turned to her cousin "While I get dinner, why don't you tell fill him in on your decision."

Taking a long pull from his beer, Clark sat back content "What's going on?"

Holding up one hand, Chloe retrieved her article and handed it over "This is the story I wrote in preparation for when you step into the public arena as Kal-el."

Nodding, he read it over then gave it a second slower read through. Once done, he tapped the sheets to stack them neatly and laid them down on the table "Was this a rough draft?"

"That's my fifth rough draft."

"Well you've given lots of facts and..." At her laugh, he rushed on "You have; I mean it's almost like a dictionary about me and tone is very um...uplifting."

"Be honest." Chloe told him simply.

Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose and confessed apologetically "It's not what I had in mind when I asked you to write it Chlo; it's more like a fan letter to the masses than an article about me."

"Yeah, I went a little overboard."

"Just a little." He smiled to take away the sting.

"But that's not the only thing wrong with it; correct?" When he nodded minutely, she nodded in return "Clark, I'm really flattered you asked me to write the story and extremely touched that you trusted me with it but…."

Having a good idea where this was going, he held up a hand for her stop "Chloe the last thing I want is for you to get a hernia over this, so don't worry about it anymore ok?" He cut in smiled at her reassurance before turning to his fiancée amused "Talk about déjà vu."

Poking out her bottom lip in sympathy, Lois patted his back in mock compassion causing him to sneer in return.

Noting the by-play between them but determined to give him the full picture without delay, Chloe tapped his hand to regain his attention "I can do this one better but only if I'm allowed to stick to my strengths by writing this as an in depth feature of you."

When his brow wrinkled in confusion, she smiled apologetically "Sorry I'm not explaining myself well. When you asked me to write the story, was your intention for me to write the one introducing you to the public as Kal-el?" At his nod, she nodded in return "Ok, well what I'm saying is that I'd rather leave that up to someone else and instead concentrate my efforts on writing a follow up exclusive article that I'm confident you'll be happy with."

"Chloe I asked you to write the story for two reasons; one because I trust you and two because I've been reading your work for years and know it's good, so I don't believe you'll let me down." He clarified honestly.

Her smile simply bloomed "Thank you."

He nodded and rubbed the bridge of his nose "Saying that, I'm willing to leave this decision up to you and if this is what you really prefer…."

At the question in his voice, she jumped in swiftly "It is Clark."

"Then I might as well tell Oliver that I'll go ahead with his and Bruce's suggestion." He concluded adroitly.

"What suggestion?" The women asked simultaneously.

"Well Ollie and Bruce suggested that we should hold a press conference, making an official announcement that I was joining the JLA." Clark informed them readily "They thought a show of solidarity with the JLA behind me was the best way to approach the issue, since I'll be revealing then that I'm the mysterious stranger people have been reading about for years. Anyway, I said no because I'd asked Chloe to write about my debut but since the field's now been opened, then I prefer a press conference on TV where the public can hear what I have to say from my own lips, as opposed to an abridged version of what I said by another reporter of ill or dubious repute."

"I'm sure that all reporters don't take a few sound bites out of context to make good copy hon." Lois advised softly.

"But how am I supposed to know which ones don't, when it seems like more and more of them are crossing into that territory these days?" He retorted candidly.

"He's right." Chloe's mouth turned down "I can't say some of them don't do that because they do; attention grabbing headlines are more important than the truth to some reporters."

"Exactly, so I'll do the press conference to circumvent that and shortly afterwards, you can just happen to get an interview with me." He smiled satisfied.

"Hey that's good; that'll really work." Chloe scooted forward in her seat some more "The press conference will be a very nice lead in to my exclusive. People will be clamouring for more and it's me that will deliver." Smiling at him blindingly, she announced excited "Me, me, me; the Planet's going to sell like hot cakes and it's all because of me."

"You mean me!" Clark corrected hastily.

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah." She waved her hand unimpressed.

Chortling with laughter when her fiancées mouth fell open in astonishment, Lois dropped a kiss on the top of his head in consolation and patted her cousin's affectionately "You're both stars."

As one, the two turned to her and sneered.

"It really doesn't pay to be neutral does it?" She asked no one in particular.

oOo

**24****th**** September**

Almost bouncing with excitement, Lois smiled into the receiver "We'll have the house to ourselves tomorrow night. Clark's friends are taking him out for a night of male bonding debauchery. You know the usual, drink like a fish and feel like a stud while watching some poor women whose desperate for money take her clothes off." At the loud cough from her intended, she smirked then chuckled at the witty comment made by Carol before holding out the phone in Clark's direction and demanding "Say something sexy."

"I'm not wearing underwear." He called out obediently.

"I said sexy not provocative." Hearing the laughter on the other end of the line, she put the phone back to her ear and snorted "Oh yeah he's all class and this is the man I'm supposed to be marrying in 9 days."

"There's no supposed to be about it; you ARE marrying me!" Clark swung around to correct emphatically but at the loud cheer from the TV audience, he swung back rapidly "Aww shit; what'd I miss?" He searched the screen hoping to catch the action, while listening to the commentators enthusiastically talking about the play. Feeling irked that he'd missed it all, he turned and glared at his fiancée "Why do women talk on the phone when a man's trying to watch a game? You're supposed to do all that crap on the commercial break, that's what they're for." When she grinned and pointed, he flung back to the TV once again and swore richly before turning to her, unamused "You made me miss the replay too! Lois; take the phone outside and talk to your friends there."

Nodding penitently, she got up from the couch and leaving him with a pat to the shoulder, headed towards the back door.

Grunting in return he kept his eyes on the screen but as the program chose that moment to take a break, he zipped over to Lois and grabbing the phone, called into the receiver "She IS marrying me, so if she says 'supposed to be' again, correct her." Handing the phone back, he turned towards the couch then spun and pulled her to him for a quick hard kiss "That should hold you until the games over, now leave me alone."

"I don't remember demanding you kiss me."

"I heard the silent nagging."

"When I nag it's never silent."

He grinned wolfishly "And when you start, I'll just shut you up but for now…" Pushing open the screen door, he swept out one hand "…beat it."

Hearing a shrill snarl, she looked towards the lounge room and seeing the dog sitting in front of the TV chewing on his toy, turned to her fiancée with brows lifted inquisitively "How come Attila's allowed to stay?"

"He's got a penis."

"That's sexist."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, go complain to your local council member." Clark retorted pleasantly and thumbing out the door, advised succinctly "Scram!"

Feeling both amused and insulted, Lois planted her fists on her hips "When can I come back?"

"When the games over, or when you're willing to sit beside me and not talk to your friends on the phone."

"And when the games over?"

"I'll either be in the mood to celebrate or I'll need you to make me feel better; either way you won't be wearing clothes."

"Don't I get a say in this? She asked affably.

"You can say what position you want but only if you talk dirty to me." At the noise from the TV, he patted her bottom "Now get lost, I wanna watch the rest of the game in peace."

Scooting out the door with a laugh, she made her way over to the canopy porch swing they'd set up on the back lawn and got comfortable "I'm back."

"I have a feeling your local council woman gets kicked outside when her husband's watching the game too Lo; so I don't think you'll get much help from her." Anne replied entertained.

"You heard all that?"

"We both did." Carol tossed in laughingly.

"Wonderful, you haven't even met Clark yet and already know that he's an oaf." Slapping one hand to her head, she shook it back and forth in mortification.

Chuckling in appreciation, Carol and Anne looked at each other and smiled widely before calling out loudly "We like him."

"Please don't tell him that when you meet him." Lois begged piteously "The man's ego is already huge and his head will just grow fatter to match."

Snickering at her words, they nevertheless nodded in unison "Then we'll just say how great it is to finally meet him." Anne promised on both their behalf.

"And I have no doubt that he'll say; well of course you think it's great to meet me. Who doesn't?" She replied drolly, causing the women to burst into gales of laughter.

After their mirth calmed, the three chatted for several minutes about this and that before Lois reminded them carefully "Now don't forget, we'll be meeting your plane so don't leave the arrivals area. I'll probably have to use Clark as a battering ram to push people out of the way to find you. So if you don't see me but do see a man with a resigned expression on his face, that'll be him."

Gotcha."

"Yes mom."

Hearing the amusement in the first reply from Anne and the cheekiness in the second from Carol, she stuck out her tongue.

Turning serious, Carol put in hesitantly "Listen Lo, Anne and I were thinking that we should stay somewhere else for the week, rather than with you and Clark."

"What; why?"

"Lois the two of you are getting married next Saturday. So the last thing you need is to have us hanging around, trampling on your love life." Anne remarked pointedly.

"Firstly and you can take my word on this, Clark is no martyr. He won't let a couple of houseguests stand in the way of getting some action. He'll simply wait for any window of opportunity for when the two of you aren't around to pounce and that's because I'll make him, not because he'll particularly care if you hear us or not." She told them truthfully. Hearing the snorts, she held up one hand as if taking an oath "I swear, the man is so brazen it wouldn't surprise me if he told you to make yourselves scarce for an hour or two, and he's so cheap that he'll probably think offering you twenty bucks would be an enticing reward for being so obliging."

Carol and Anne looked at each other and grinned. They liked hearing the happiness in their friend's voice and looked forward to meeting the man who'd managed to break down her walls.

"Would he give us twenty bucks a piece?" Anne asked tongue in cheek.

"To share." Lois chortled out a laugh "But for all of his nonsense, Clark's a softie. It was his idea that you stay with us. I didn't think he'd like being stuck with a houseful of women so was going to ask his mom to put you up but he said no and truly, he wouldn't have insisted if he was against it."

"I'm really looking forward to meeting him." Anne told her frankly.

"Me too." Carol chipped in.

"Well he pretends to be a grumble bum but it's mostly just an act; I think the three of you will get along like a house on fire." Lois grinned widely into the receiver "Anyway, onwards and upwards; I finished making your bridesmaids dresses yesterday and I think they'll look really beautiful on you but maybe you could try them on tomorrow night when Clark's not home and see what you think."

"I haven't known you to miss Lo but since you're the bride, then you get to choose what we wear." Carol reminded her candidly.

"I don't agree with that philosophy. I want bridesmaids who know they look lovely, not ones who are stressing that they look ugly in a dress they don't like." She negated swiftly "I'm sure you both remember when we attended Heather and Pete's wedding last year, that I spent more time bitching about the outfits she made her attendants wear, than I did complimenting the food."

"We remember." They announced feelingly.

"Good, now you don't have to worry that I've made you matching outfits because I haven't. I picked designs and colours that suit you individually but if you don't like them, they'll get tossed aside and we'll hit the stores on Monday ok?"

"Ok." Anne answered for both before asking curiously "What about Lucy?"

"Unfortunately, no amount of Lane coaxing from either of us could win this one. Her doctor refuses to give consent for her to fly since she's almost 8 months pregnant and Ron put his foot down when she suggested they drive, saying it was too long and far too risky for a woman in her condition." Her mouth turned down gloomily "Then we come to Clark who's supposed to be on my side but was nothing but a complete rat fink by agreeing with both of them when I whinged."

Stifling their amusement, the women murmured consolingly.

"Anyway, Luce and I gave up. We finally agreed that I'd send her heaps of photos and Clark and I would visit after the baby's born." She finished with a disappointed exhale then perked up again "But daddy's coming and so are both of you and that makes me really happy."

After a few more minutes of conversation, the call was concluded but rather than going back inside, Lois made her way over to the hammock and rolling into it, closed her eyes.

Heading to the backyard an hour later with Attila fast at his heels, Clark found her there fast asleep and his eyes lit up. Looking down at the dog, he shrugged unsympathetically "Sorry pal, but this time you're the one who's going to be in the way."

Before he could reach down to pick up the beast, the dog ran towards the hammock barking and jumping determined to get up.

Grinning wickedly, Clark scooped up Attila and dumped him in the hammock then scooped up Lois and headed towards the house. When the beast let out a high pitched squeak of protest and the woman in his arms likewise grumbled at being woken, he simply laughed and kept right on walking.

oOo

**25****th**** September **_– Metropolis Airport: Approx 9.30am_

Standing anxiously near the gate while searching among the crowd, Lois gave Clark's arm a quick absent shake "I don't see them; do you?"

Keeping hold on his fiancée to ensure she didn't fall over in her enthusiasm, he looked at all the people milling around and shrugged "I don't know what they look like."

Baffled, she turned to him and frowned "I showed you a picture of them on my phone."

"Lo the three of you were dressed up for a Halloween party; I could barely recognise you in that picture."

"So much for supervision" She muttered in disgust and turning back, began to scan the crowd once more.

Rolling his eyes, Clark sighed and wondered if it was worth his while trying to explain how his vision worked _**again **_but at the loud squeal, which had Lois squealing in return, he simply sent up a prayer of thanks that she'd obviously found her friends.

Waving frantically at Carol, who was jumping up and down while trying unsuccessfully to dodge around a mass of people in her path, Lois grinned and waited impatiently while continuing to scan the area for Anne.

"Who's the bombshell?"

At the awestruck comment from her fiancée, she elbowed him and remarked tartly "Keep your eyes in your head, that's my friend Carol."

Blinking in awe at the vision coming towards them, Clark whistled softly "Is it all real?"

"Yes."

"Really; the face, the body, the legs that go on forever…." He leant down and whispered "…and the impressively generous breasts."

"Yes." She repeated emphatically.

He whistled softly "Can I have my ring back?"

"No!" Lois sputtered indignantly "And what's wrong with my body I'd like to know?"

"It's not naked and wrapped around mine right now." He remarked and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. Pleased, she smiled then glared when he added thoughtfully "But if I had both of you…."

Snorting, she pulled out of his hold and rushing forward, threw her arms around her friend "I've missed you."

"I've missed you." Carol stepped back and looked her over "You look great."

"So do you." Clark put in admiringly.

Grinning, she stuck out her hand "You must be Clark."

"I'll be anything you like." He smiled toothily.

At the loud cough from the side, he flicked his eyes at his fiancée then turned to Carol and announced solemnly "Lois and I are just friends."

"Carol's my friend you idiot, so she knows your lying." Lois interjected with a slap to his arm.

"Don't listen to her Carol, she's lying." Clark blustered manfully.

Huffing out a laugh, Lois stepped hard on his toe "Will you stop making a fool of yourself."

"I can't help it."

Amused at the admission and used to men being dazzled by her friend, she simply threw up her hands in defeat "Just ignore him Carol; I do."

Knowing his appreciation of her looks was real but his interest in her was feigned, Carol swallowed down the laugh and nodded obediently "Are you sure that you want to marry him Lo? Once you do then you're stuck with him for life."

Bobbing her head sadly in agreement, Lois sighed heavily in resignation "I know but what else can I do? At least by taking him of the market and saving some other poor deluded woman from mistaking him for a prize, my karma is bound to skyrocket in exchange."

"I know that I'm a prize." Clark proclaimed loudly to no one in particular. Choosing to ignore their giggles, he proposed eagerly "Babe, fifty bucks says that one of my friends will walk into a wall when they get a load of Carol."

"That's the easiest money you'll ever make, and you're not making it off me." She retorted swiftly "And will you stop embarrassing my friend."

"I'm not embarrassed." Carol tossed in cheerfully.

"She's not embarrassed." He parroted in turn.

"Well forget it." Lois retorted crushingly.

"You never let me have any fun." He grumbled moodily "Just see if I share any of the take with you, when I get bribed six ways to Sunday to put in a good word with her from the men in town."

"If you promise to cut me in on the action, I'll wear this dress when I meet them." Carol offered cheerfully.

"You mean that you'll barely wear that dress, like you're doing now." Lois asked straight faced.

Doing a little twirl to show off the short, figure hugging dress to ensure they caught the full effect, Carol smiled at them brilliantly "If you've got it; flaunt it."

"And you've certainly got it." Clark agreed admiringly.

"And I enjoy flaunting it." She returned without a lick of shame.

Laughing in appreciation, he turned to his fiancée "She's the shy one, right?"

"Of course." Lois returned soberly.

"I see no reason to hide my light under a bushel." Carol shrugged uncaring.

"Nor do I as you can tell." Lois agreed and did a little twirl of her own, laughing at the woof whistle from her fiancée.

"Well given the light the two of you generate, it'd be a crime to hide it." Clark concurred charmingly causing the women to smile at him widely in thanks.

Hearing another loud squeal, Lois spun and let out a loud 'oof' at finding herself enveloped in her second enthusiastic hug within minutes.

Stepping back, she grinned happily "Did you get held up?"

"Uh huh, I got trapped behind an old couple who weren't exactly speedy on their feet but since I'm going to be in the same boat someday, I won't complain." She smiled and stuck out her hand "You must be Clark."

Taking her hand, he smiled in welcome "And you must be Anne."

"It's nice to meet you..." She looked him over and smiled even wider "You don't look too dangerous, so I suppose we can let you marry our friend."

"He's not dangerous, just an opportunist." Lois supplied helpfully.

"Well I can respect anyone who opens the door when opportunity knocks, since I'm that way myself." Anne announced readily and sweeping her eyes over him again, asked directly "So tell me; are all the men in Smallville as good looking as you and when are you going to introduce us to them."

Giving his arm a squeeze, Lois told him soberly "Honey in case you haven't noticed, Carol doesn't have coy bone in her body and Anne has the heart of a carpetbagger like yourself; I'm the boring one in our group."

Letting out a shout of laughter, he shook his head "Boring is not a word that I'll ever associate with you Lo; trust me."

"Stop fishing for compliments Lois and give us a look at the ring." Anne demanded and grasped the hand before she could shove it under their noses.

The women "oohed' and 'ahhed' sufficiently and at the enquiry of how the wedding preparations were coming from Carol, Lois rolled her eyes and began a running commentary.

Whimpering silently when all three began to gabber on about the wedding, Clark figured his only avenue of escape was to get the women moving and cut into their conversation without apology "Lo the three of you can discuss all that to your heart's content later, for now I think we should collect their luggage and hit the road. Mom's expecting us all for lunch and I've still got a lot of work to do at the farm before next weekend so..." Stepping forward, he plucked his fiancée out of the little group and tucking her into his side, began to usher the women through the terminal.

Patting his hand in apology, Lois turned to her friends and advised in a mock whisper "When he says that we can discuss it later, he means tonight when he's not at home."

Amused but nodding understanding, they happily began to chat about other things with an inexhaustible flow.

oOo

_Approx: 3.30pm_

Bringing the car to a halt in front of the public library, Lois hopped out from behind the wheel and smiled cheerfully at her friends "So now that I've shown you all the highlights of Smallville..."

"What were they again?" Anne asked politely.

Her lips quivered in amusement "Shut up, anyway now that we've done the rounds; what'd you think?"

"I think it's nice." Anne smiled soberly and cast her eyes over the main street which was busy with vehicles and pedestrians. "Admittedly it's not San Francisco but if I fell in love with a man who lived here, then I might be willing to leave the bright lights for him too."

Lois' smile bloomed "Clark's great isn't he?"

"He's a keeper." Carol confirmed solidly.

"Yeah his is." Reaching out, she clasped one hand of each woman and squeezed softly "When I left home it was only supposed to be for a three month vacation and although I don't regret giving up San Francisco for Smallville, I'm going to miss both of you more than I can say."

"We'll only be a phone call away." Carol reminded her gently.

"I know but it's not the same." She exhaled heavily "I've made some good friends here and I'm grateful for each and every one of them but the two of you have been a mainstay in my life for over 10 years and I'm going to miss you."

"We're going to miss you too and if we'd known that a three month vacation was going to take you away from us permanently…." Anne began hesitantly then smiled widely "We would have packed for you ourselves if we knew that Clark was here waiting for you."

"He wasn't waiting for me." Lois replied touched.

"That's not how I see it." Anne contradicted steadily.

"Nor I." Carol backed her up neatly "And let's not forget that you also have the cutest little dog in the world, who was also likely waiting for you to find him."

"Not to mention lucking out in the mother in law stakes as well." Anne frowned fiercely "How about throwing some of your luck our way."

Pulling them into a three way hug, Lois squeezed hard "I'll be happy to but for now will you settle for a coffee from the Talon?"

"She gets it all and we get a measly cup of coffee in exchange; how is that fair?" Carol rolled her eyes at Anne, causing all three to giggle.

"Lois!"

Swinging round at the call of her name, she smiled in greeting "Hi Tina; how have you been?"

"Busy but good." She replied before turning to smile at the other two "Hello."

The women smiled in return and taking up hostess duties, Lois took care of the introductions and finished by remaking cheekily "Carol, you and Tina should have plenty to talk about since she's the hairdresser and you're the beautician, who's going to make us look fantastically beautiful for the wedding."

"Hey I'm only a beautician Lo, not a miracle worker." Carol protested teasingly, causing her friends to poke out their tongues in retaliation.

Chuckling appreciatively, Tina schooled her face into sober lines "We can do it."

"Of course we can." Carol nodded firmly "I was a novice beautician all through a school and have been a practicing one for years; besides..." Slipping one arm around Lois and the other around Anne; she squeezed them both "We won't have to try at all because they're both beautiful already."

"Aw thanks." Anne smiled and pushed up her glasses, while Lois squeezed her in return.

Tina smiled at the picture they made then sent Carol a look of camaraderie "You were a novice beautician all through school and I was a novice hairdresser..." Leaning forward she confessed in a whisper "To be honest; my only interests in school were makeup, hairstyles and boys."

"Throw in clothes and I was the same."

"Oh yeah I can't forget the clothes; I was a fashion whore." Tina smiled hugely.

"Me too and as you can see, I still am." Carol grinned proudly and waved a hand over herself.

"Me too." She laughed in delight.

"Well I wasn't interested in any of that, nor school or the boys who attended them; it was all boring to my mind." Lois remarked thoughtfully.

"You thought boys were boring?" Tina questioned entertained.

"I grew up around army guys and what school boy doesn't pale in comparison to them?" She asked point blank.

The women nodded in understanding and agreement.

"Well I attended an all girl's high school, so any pimply faced pip-squeak of the male persuasion was fascinating to me no matter how dumb they acted." Anne announced dolefully.

"Don't worry sweetie, at that age none of us had much taste and given what we had to choose from, it's not surprising." Carol patted her arm sympathetically.

"Too true." Lois and Tina agreed in unison.

"But the good news is that they do improve with age and so does our taste." Lois put in and smiled blindingly at all "I am of course, speaking from personal experience."

Tina grinned just as blindingly in return "This is true, as I also know from personal experience."

"Tina's just gotten engaged herself." Lois informed her friends.

Bobbing her head in thanks at the congratulations coming her way, she happily held out a hand at the request to see the ring.

"How are your arrangements coming?"

At the inquiry from Lois, she supplied with relief "Well I've still got another five weeks so I'm not at the frantic stage yet."

"You are soooo lucky." Lois remarked musingly "Clark gave me a month and wouldn't budge from it. I only managed to push it out an extra day so it would fall on a weekend but he still whinged about it."

"Well Mark tried to get me to push the date up but I had a secret weapon on my side..." Seeing the curiosity on their faces, she announced chirpily "My mom!" At the chuckles from all three, she grinned hugely "When Mark tried to coax me into bringing the date forward and once even suggested that we elope, so I just told him to take up any discussions of that nature up with her." She chuckled heartily and tacked on "He's scared of her."

Lois laughed in appreciation "Are you having a big formal affair or semi-casual?"

"I've got four older brothers so mom started saving for my wedding on the day I was born; take a guess?" She replied drolly.

"Big and formal."

"Yep, but she's having a ball planning it with the co-ordinators and the most she expects from Mark and me is input for our preferences." Tina paused and smiled lopsided "I have to confess to getting caught up in her enthusiasm but Mark and dad are simply suffering through it and basically commiserating with each other at this point."

"Whenever Clark used to bitch at me about wedding preparations, I used to say it was his deadline that was driving me crazy, which was driving him crazy and get a minute of peace when he shut up." Her mouth turned down at the corners gloomily "Unfortunately I can't do that anymore.

"Why not?"

"Because he used logic on me…." She groused irked "….he said that if I'm paying someone to organise the wedding then I should let them organise it and butt out…." Lois broke off and grunted "I hate it when men use logic to win an argument, it's so annoying."

"I know." The women agreed together.

"And it's even more maddening when they do it in a really calm, rational tone of voice; ugh!" Tina sneered disdainfully.

"Ugh!" The three repeated together.

Sharing a long look of sisterhood, they sighed heavily in unity then Anne patted her friend on the arm "Just think Lo, soon you'll have a lifetime of Clark driving you up the wall doing that."

"Oh shush you." Lois stuck out her tongue at Anne who grinned cheekily before turning to Tina and pointed to her mop of light brown curls with a grimace "If you can do anything with this, I'll be grateful."

"With hair like yours I can do a lot but it depends on whether you want to wear it up or down."

"I'm not fussed on hairstyles so she can wear it down." Lois put in anxiously.

"Just as well or I'd be in trouble." Carol snickered and ran a hand through her short layered cap.

"You could be bald and still look gorgeous." Anne replied candidly "The only thing I'm jealous of is yours and Lois' boobs."

"You mean that you're jealous we have some?" Lois asked tongue in cheek.

"I have some; you may need to look hard but they're there." She grumbled and pointed at her small bosom.

Laughing, Carol patted her on the arm "Don't worry, the new bra you've bought seems to have come with its own breasts."

"And its own cleavage" She confirmed happily "I'm going to have boobs for your wedding Lo."

Sniffing, Lois wiped one finger under her eyes "Thank you sweetie, I'm truly touched."

Laughing at their nonsense, Tina shook her head "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work so can't stop to chat any longer but I do have some ideas that I think will look great for your hair. If you like I can drop around tonight with some pictures and we can have a quick practice session to see which look you prefer."

"Me too." Lois piped up.

"Of course."

"Well I have to admit that'd be great for us Tina but are you sure?"

"Yeah why not, Marks's going to be on the town with the guys so I've got the night free, and this will also give Carol and me the opportunity to discuss how you're all going to look. Then when I arrive next Saturday morning we can get straight down to business, instead of wasting time you won't have." She summed up neatly.

"Well why don't you come over tonight about 6.30 and we'll have dinner first before talking about hairstyles and stuff."

"I'd like that thanks."

Lois nodded and asked in query "Ok and this is just a thought but since you're coming to the wedding, will you have time next Saturday morning to come over to my place to do our hair plus get ready yourself, or will it save you time if we come to the shop?"

"I'm leaving the assistant manager in charge of the salon next weekend, so I'll have plenty of time." Tina replied cheerfully "In fact, I'm leaving her in charge over the next few weekends, so she feels ready for the challenge while I'm of honeymooning."

"It's a good idea; Anne did the same thing with our shop a few years ago. With me being on the road so often, she trained up one of the girls to manage the shop so she could have some downtime and it's worked out really great; right Anne."

"Yep; I have to admit it was hard to let go of having full control at first but well worth it in the end."

Tina bobbed her head in understanding "Well I have to admit that I'm nervous but since I only want to spend my honeymoon concentrating on my new husband then it's time to do it now, not at the last minute." Taking a swift look at her watch, she grimaced accordingly "Speaking of time, my next client's due in less than 5 minutes so I'd better run."

Excusing herself, she rushed back to the shop while the ladies headed to the Talon for a much needed cup of coffee.

oOo

**27****th**** September **_– Smallville Tavern the Alfresco Beer Garden: Approx 2pm_

Taking a sip of his beer Clark set the glass down and wondered philosophically if anything could be nicer than having a drink and shooting the breeze with friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Taking another sip, he sat back content and stretched out his legs; nope he couldn't think of a thing.

"Who are the babes?" Neil whispered reverently.

Swinging his head around to where his friend was pointing, Dean's eyes widened "Oh mama!"

Looking up, Clark saw Lois and her friends talking to some women across the street and amended his previous decision; one thing was better. Having a beer with his friends on a summer's afternoon and seeing a beautiful woman in his line of vision. His beautiful woman, he thought silently with a touch of relish and possession.

"Hmmm."

Hearing the hum of veneration from his friends, his lips tilted "The babe with the ring on her finger is mine as you know, so keep your eyes on her face. The other two are her friends from back home."

"Single?"

"Yep."

"So the other two are up for grabs then" Dean murmured thankfully and straightened in his seat. After a quick check to ensure his shirt was tucked in, he turned to the guys "How do I look?"

"Who gives a crap, how do I look?" Neil quickly raked a hand through his hair and likewise straightened up.

"You both look real purty." Mark assured them mock solemnly.

"Ha ha." Dean mumbled sourly.

Tapping the table to get their attention, Neil asked pointedly "They're here for the wedding right?" At Clark's confirming nod, his smiled spread "Could this be any better?"

"What'd you mean?" Tim frowned confused.

He shook his head patiently "I mean that women tend to get mushy at wedding's buddy and with their defences down..."

"That's the best time to catch them." Dean finished wisely.

Lifting his drink in salute, Tim nodded "Well since that's probably the only time either of you will catch one, good luck."

"They need all the luck they can get." Mark snickered in appreciation.

Choosing to ignore all that, Dean asked Clark hopefully "Why don't you call them over, kind of give us a jump….I mean a chance to meet them before the big day?"

"Not to mention, to also give us the opportunity to warmly welcome them to our friendly little community here in Smallville." Neil put in soberly.

"Well that's kind of you but it's already been taken care off." Clark replied blandly "Lois told me they were welcomed quite happily by all the ladies at the hen's do last night."

"My wife was one of them." Tim threw in helpfully.

When Mark's mouth opened, Dean pointed "Don't say a word." Turning to Clark he sighed fitfully "Be a pal and call them over buddy."

Seeing their pathetic expressions, he rolled his eyes and gave in "I don't need to because they are joining us. I told Lo to meet us here when they finished up whatever they were doing and I'd introduce her friends to mine; happy."

"You are a kind and generous man." Neil patted him on the back in thanks.

"I've always said so." Dean backed him up swiftly.

"It's not for you lot, it's to give them a chance to meet both our friends so they don't feel uncomfortable around a bunch of strangers at the wedding." Clark informed them pithily "Since they've already met the women, I thought it was time they met the riff raff."

"Call me what you like, I'm not saying one bad thing about you in return." Dean smiled cheerfully.

"Me neither." Neil shook his head emphatically.

"At least until after I do the honours." He replied amused.

Pretending not to understand, they simply smiled at him loftily causing Clark to roll his eyes before lifting one hand in salute in reply to Lois' wave.

Seeing the ladies walking towards them, Tim's lips pursed in consideration "Lucy told me Lois' friend Carol was a traffic stopper and since I have to assume she was talking about the blonde…." At Clark's confirming no, he nodded in return "Then I gotta say my wife downplayed it."

"Hmmm." The men sighed in heavenly agreement.

Shaking it off, Mark shifted uneasily "After my stunt with the bimbo..."

"Is that what you're calling her now?" Dean asked interested.

"That's what Tina called her when I confessed all, and I'm not going to correct her." He confessed feelingly.

"Smart man." Tim lifted his drink in salute.

"Yeah well after that little episode, I'm not admitting anything about finding another woman attractive; not even the blonde heading our way with Lois." He paused and looked at Clark "What'd you do when you saw her?"

"I gawked and embarrassed myself." He admitted frankly "Then Lois told me to knock it off and I did."

Chuckling lightly the men nodded in understanding then turned a blinding smile of welcome upon the women when they reached their table at last.

oOo

_Same day - Approx: 6.15pm_

At the sound of the doorbell, Clark excused himself to his guest and made his way to the front door.

Finding Dean standing there all spit and polished in his Sunday best caused his lips to quiver with suppressed laughter "Yes."

"Hey buddy, I just called round to see how you are." Dean smiled widely.

"Why that's right neighbourly of you." He crossed his arms and got comfortable against the doorjamb "How am I...hmm well let's see; this morning I banged my knee when I managed to drag my ass out of bed but since I was getting up late because my beautiful not to mention really eager fiancée detained me, then I'm not going to complain about a bruised knee." Clark smiled beatifically and leant forward as if sharing a secret "Especially since I figure that waking up alone like you do most every morning, must be a whole lot worse."

Dean's eyes narrowed, Clark lip's twitched "Other than that I'm doing great and you know, I'd really love to stay and chat but…oh hang on, didn't we have a couple of beers at the Tavern earlier?"

"Yeah but..."

"And I could have sworn you didn't give a rat's ass how I was after the ladies joined us." He interrupted amused.

"I barely even remember them." Dean lied rapidly.

"Well that's too bad because they're very friendly, not to mention extremely easy on the eyes. It really makes a man feel good to know that nature can be so generous towards us." He grinned tauntingly "Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by but Lois said that I'm not allowed to go out and play since we have company, so I'll see you round ok." He began to close the door but at the small whimper swung it open once more "Oh sorry did you want something else?"

"You're already taken, so keeping all the ladies all to yourself is a bit rich isn't it." Dean asked reproachfully.

His grin widened even more "I'm taken; not dead." He leant close and whispered "You should see the dinner they've whipped up and I get to eat it all by myself with three gorgeous women."

Dean craned his neck around the door, jumped up a little but when Clark purposely blocked his view, he scowled before giving in to his curiosity "What are they wearing."

"Nothing."

"What?"

Snickering, he held the door open wider "Wanna join us."

"Well I don't want to intrude."

"Ok then." He once again began to close the door, but was stopped by Dean's hand pushing it open "On the other hand I can eat."

Stepping into the house, he walked into the lounge room and came to a dead stop at seeing Neil standing in the middle of the living room. Swinging around on his heel, he glared at Clark accusingly "How come you invited him and not me?"

He held up his hands and replied straight faced "Neil's been here for less than two minutes and he just dropped round to ask if we needed any help setting up the hall for the wedding next Saturday."

"It's the least I could do." Neil replied modestly.

"Argh; get of it!" Dean sneered disdainfully "What were you going to do, arrange the flowers on the tables?"

"If need be." He smiled affably "As one of the groom's closest friends, I don't consider any task too menial when it comes to ensuring his future happiness starts off without a hitch." At their combined sneers, he smiled sunnily "Oh well I'm here and I'd love to stay for dinner too; thanks."

"It's funny but I don't recall inviting you." Clark replied politely but at the censorious look from his friend, he gave in gracefully "You're both welcome to stay."

"Just as well, I was about to get out my phone and tell your mom that her son needs to learn some manners." Neil muttered threateningly.

Grinning at that, Clark looked between the two of them and mused out loud "Seeing the two of you all dolled up makes me feel really underdressed; maybe I should go and put on a suit too." The men looked at each other, shifted uncomfortably and glanced away. Shaking his head in pity, he exhaled heavily in disappointment "You're both pitiful.

"I wouldn't talk if I was you buddy." Dean remarked scornfully.

"Yeah!" Neil declared staunchly.

Pursing his lips, he bobbed his head agreeably "Fine I was but let's just agree that Mark was worse than all of us put together."

"Oh he was sad." Dean shook his head in sorrow "I think his lowest point was when he asked us to call him up if we saw Tina around town when she wasn't working, and keep her occupied until he could race into town and accidently bump into her."

The men looked at each other, back at him and nodded in melancholy.

"Ah well, at least we don't have to play cupid with those two anymore." Clark slapped his hands together cheerfully "So who wants a beer?"

"Me."

At their joint response, he turned for the kitchen then swung back at Dean's question "Where are the ladies?"

"In the back yard cooing over Attila." He finished by hooking a thumb over his shoulder.

"Well now, I wouldn't mind saying hello to that dear little dog myself." Dean announced genially.

"I love that pooch too, so I'll go with you." Neil tossed out eagerly.

They stepped towards the kitchen then stopped when the back door was pushed open and the women entered.

"Hi Neil, Dean."

At the surprise in Lois' voice, the men rolled an anguished eye at Clark who swiftly jumped to their rescue "I invited them for dinner earlier and forgot to tell you; sorry babe."

Knowing he was covering for his friends, she smiled enthusiastically "Actually that works out great, because I accidently over catered for dinner due to us having guests." Turning to the men, she waved between the women at her side and asked "I'm sure you remember my friends Anne and Carol."

Dean nodded and happily stepped forward to renew acquaintance. Not to be outdone, Neil stepped forward too and encouraged the ladies to take a seat in the lounge room so they could all sit down and chat.

"Clark, can you give me a hand getting drinks organised for everyone?" Lois thumbed towards the kitchen and when he nodded agreeably, followed him in.

"You need to go and buy some more food?" She whispered frantically.

"Mom's still joining us right?" At the confirming nod, he murmured "Do you know what she's bringing?"

"A cake for desert but as for actual dinner, we're going to have to skimp just to make it stretch to accommodate two more guests and if anyone wants seconds, they'll have to lick the bowls to get it." At the knock on the door, she hissed "Is it your mom?"

Turning around he took a quick peek and shook his head "I'll be back in a minute."

Walking to the front door, he pulled it open and smiled in greeting at Mike Oberle "Hi Mike."

"Hi Clark, I was wondering if um…." Mike cleared his throat and held up the jug in his hand "If I could get some milk from you? I've just run out."

"Some milk?" Coughing away the chuckle, he nodded and took the proffered jug "Sure come on in."

Stepping inside the lounge room, Mike smiled at all present "Hey Dean, Neil."

The men nodded hello and narrowed their eyes at the newest competition in the room. Ignoring their looks, he called out hello to Lois who was standing in the alcove connecting the kitchen and lounge then turned and smiled winsomely at the ladies in expectation of being introduced.

After swiftly doing as expected, Clark turned to his fiancée "Babe, Mike just dropped round to borrow some milk."

"You've gotta be kidding, that's the best he could come up with?" Dean muttered under his breath.

"I thought we were bad but he takes the cake." Neil mumbled in return.

Wanting to howl with laughter, Clark swept out a hand "Make you yourself comfortable Mike; I'll be back in a minute."

Retreating to the kitchen, he put the bottle on the sink and grasping Lois' hand, tugged her out the back door after him and let loose the guffaw he could no longer contain.

Confused at what was so hilarious, Lois patted his back "Ok, I admit that dropping round to borrow some milk is a pretty flimsy excuse but it's not that funny."

"Oh yes it is." He hooted and at her bewilderment, laughed even harder "Babe, the man owns at least three dozen cows! How could he possibly run out?"

Slapping a hand over her mouth, Lois' eyes widened "What excuse did Dean and Neil give for dropping round?"

Upon being told, she snorted, then snickered then chuckled before giving in and laughing with him richly in amusement. When their mirth calmed, she smiled hugely at her fiancée "The men in this town are a never ending source of entertainment."

"I'm happy you find us so diverting." He replied blandly.

Patting his arm in comfort, her brow furrowed in query "Should I be insulted that none of them tried this with me?"

"The only reason you were spared is because you were a relative newcomer at first. However, once word got around about your heroics with Peter, it gave Dean and Neil the opportunity to come sniffing around. If I hadn't stepped in when I did, others would have tried it on too which is precisely why I did step in." His lips curved in unholy amusement "Whereas with Carol and Anne, no one needs to stand back and politely wait for an opportunity to jump in, since they know us and are quite willing to drop round with any excuse no matter how feeble."

"Well that's ok then." She smiled gratified "Anyway, I'm going to ask Mike to stay for dinner too. The poor man must have felt like an idiot coming over with that excuse, so he deserves to be rewarded."

"And I'd better zip to Metropolis and get some more food; what'd we need?"

"Since it's better to have more than less, why don't you pick up a few family sized pizzas, a bucket of chicken, a large tub of potato salad, pasta salad and ice cream? Your mom's bringing over a chocolate cake but I doubt it will be big enough for all our impromptu guests, so we can pad it out with the ice cream."

"Ok, I'll be back as soon as I can but call me if anyone else turns up and we need more food."

"I will and I'll also order the pizzas from the shop in town then you can pick them up last; hopefully they'll be ready by the time you're done."

"Ok." He turned to go then swung back "We'll be lucky to get any time to ourselves this week. With your friends staying here, I have a feeling that mine are going to become permanent fixtures around this place."

"I didn't realise Mike was a good friend of yours?"

"Me neither but I have a feeling he's about to become one?" Clark replied deadpan.

Grinning, she patted his chest in approval "Well he's a nice guy and a person can never have too many friends. Besides, I bet if the situations were reversed, where you were single and he had the hot babes as houseguests, you'd be turning up at his place with some bullshit excuse too."

"You'd win that bet." His grinned unashamed and after capturing her lips in a quick kiss, zipped off to Metropolis.

oOo

**3****rd**** October **_– Kent Farm: Approx 11.15am_

Looking out the bedroom window, Clark swept his eyes over the fields of his farm and grimaced when his stomach churned with nervousness. Yesterday he'd thought that Lois was acting crazy when she started getting jumpy but today he knew just how she felt.

Picking up his cell-phone from the bedside table, he pushed the pre-set button for hers and waited patiently for the line to be picked up.

"Hello."

"Hi….who's this?"

"Carol."

"Hey Carol its Clark, is Lois there?"

Turning, she saw Anne rubbing soothing circles on Lois' back and hissed "It's Clark."

At the hand waving in alarm from the bride to be, she turned back to the phone and said hesitantly "Yeah but she's kind of busy right now, you know how it is?" She gave a small tinkling laugh "Well of course you know."

"I just want to have a quick word with her."

"Right, umm…." After another quick look at her friend, Carol asked cautiously "Does she have to respond?"

"What?"

Giving up, she shrugged her shoulders and told him apologetically "Lois is hyperventilating into a paper bag right now, so isn't feeling very chatty."

Hearing that caused his own nervousness to flee "I see, well tell my bride that even if she's has to arrive at the altar with that paper bag over her head, I'll expect her to be there and if she's not, there's going to be trouble."

Grinning, she nodded and turned to repeat word for word his message causing Lois to lift her head and glare "Give me that phone." Snatching it from her friend, she brought the receiver to her lips and pantingly snarled "I'm having a meltdown and you're threatening me."

"Promising you, there's a difference." He retorted coolly.

"Well you can take your promise and shove it." Clicking off, Lois tossed down the phone and storming over to the dressing table, picked up her earrings and slid them in "That man deserves a punch in the nose.

When her phone rang less than 10 seconds later, Carol and Anne looked at each other and figuring they weren't needed any longer, tip-toed out the bedroom.

Scowling, Lois picked up the phone and heard "If you're not there I'll sue you for breach of promise" then the dial tone.

Annoyed she pressed the button for his number and the second he answered, swiftly told him "Try it and I'll sue you for emotional abandonment in my time of need."

Snorting at that, he announced "You have little more than an hour so stop wasting time" before clicking off.

Infuriated at being hung up on again, she called him back at his snarl of "What", snapped heatedly, "Just for that I'm going to take two hours" before tossing the phone on the bed. Fanning her face with both hands, she turned and glared at the ringing of her cell.

Feeling both turned on and aggravated, Clark grit his teeth and stabbed at the button for her number. Not waiting for her to speak, he asked directly "Are you dressed?"

"No."

"Good."

About to hang up, Lois stopped and narrowed her eyes "What'd you mean good? If you think you're getting out of marrying me buster…."

"Oh calm down you little hellion." Clark cut in exasperated "I meant it was good so that we can have sex without worrying about your dress getting crumpled and all that rubbish."

"Sex?" She perked up interested.

"Yeah why not, I feel like we've just had the foreplay and now it's time for some action."

Intrigued she licked her lips "Now!"

"Yes."

"We can't?"

"Why not?" He asked simply.

"We don't have time."

"Sure we do, we'll just have to be quick."

"Well we can do quick." She whispered excited.

"Mmm hmm, remember our first time? That was super quick and it was great." He hummed loudly into the receiver.

"Yeah but today's different; you're not supposed to see me before the wedding remember?"

"Neither of us are superstitious so who gives a crap?"

"It's tradition."

"Tradition be damned!" He professed candidly and at her soft giggle, asked softly "I think getting some would do both of us the world of good don't you?"

"Don't use that tone."

"What tone?"

"THAT one you wolf." She whispered back and swiped a hand over her brow.

"I'll stop if you say yes." Clark murmured seductively.

"Yes."

"Say it like you mean it." He urged huskily.

Giving up, she laughed "Yes!"

"Good, I'll be over in a second."

"You can't; I've got the girls here remember?" Lois reminded him urgently.

Clark huffed impatiently "Fine; then meet me in the shed out back."

"The shed!" She squeaked astonished.

"Yeah, it's a little dusty but not dirty and although it's kind of small, it still has a lot more room than the back seat of a car."

"You sucker me in by being irresistible and now you offer me a shed."

"Tempted?"

"Hell yeah, it sounds like fun." At the slight whooshing sound, she frowned "What was that?"

"I'm here."

Laughing softly, Lois promised to be there soon and tightening the belt of her robe, walked out of the bedroom and into the lounge room. Seeing Carol was busy doing Anne's makeup, she smiled relived "I'm just going to step outside for a little bit ok."

"Are you feeling better Lo?"

At the question from Carol, she bobbed her head "Much and I think getting a breath of fresh air, will really do wonders for me. It's a shame I never thought of it earlier."

Intrigued at the brightness in her eyes, Anne asked hesitantly "You look a little flushed Lo, did you and Clark make up?"

"Yeah, we were just blowing off some nerves."

"So everything's ok?"

"Couldn't be better; back soon." Pulling open the back door before she stepped outside and making her way to the shed, let out a little squeal when the door was pulled open and she was tugged inside.

"What took you so long?" Clark whispered fiercely.

"I was only a couple of minutes at most and that's because they wouldn't stop asking me questions." She whispered back in the same manner.

Not wanting to waste what little time they had, he picked her up and sat her on the bench he'd cleaned off.

"Don't mess up my hair."

Rolling his eyes, Clark nodded shortly "Anything else?"

"Yeah, come here." Grabbing him by the shirt front, she tugged and locked their lips together.

oOo

_Afterwards….._

"Still feeling nervous?"

At his question, Lois rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and sighed in contentment "Just a little bit but I'm not scared anymore; thanks."

"Nervous I can understand but why scared?"

"Well I had another moment and it kind of overwhelmed me…."

"What happened?" He interrupted concerned.

"I don't know; I put on my shoes and was just looking down admiring them when suddenly it seemed like the ground was a million miles away. I was so sure that I was going to fall and it scared the hell out of me, which in turn caused me to panic and hyperventilate and then you called." She punched him in the shoulder and glared "And you pissed me off."

Not taking any notice of the last part, his eyes narrowed on her face "Are you sure all of these instances aren't really visions Lois?"

Her brow wrinkled "What instances, there's only been two moments."

"Didn't you tell me that when it concerns yourself, you'll either have a vision so you know what's going to happen or you'll have a series of flashes until you get the whole picture?"

She bobbed her head reluctantly "Yeah but…."

Trucking right over her, he continued grimly "So a couple of weeks ago you had a moment during the day, then later that same night you felt dizzy before falling asleep and directly after that you dreamt that you were falling. Then today you had another moment which once again frightened you and it was once again about you falling."

Lois looked at him patiently "Clark I've never had a dream…"

"Did you ever think that maybe the dream you had wasn't a dream at all but a vision and the dizziness you experienced before it, could have been a feeling of vertigo as if you were looking down from a great height." He interrupted dourly.

"The scenario you're trying to paint takes both a 'maybe' and a 'could have been' to come true. That's a bit of a stretch don't you think?" She teased gently but when his expression only became sterner, she gave it up "Look, I can't say for certain but I've never had a vision that shows me in dire straits, much less one that affects me physically like that." When his mouth opened, she quickly rushed on "Yes I have felt sick before but that's from what I've seen, which is completely different to this which is why I'm inclined to think it's all just wedding nerves, nothing more."

Not happy about it but figuring that she'd been dealing with this for a lot longer than he had, Clark clasped her shoulders "Ok, I'm willing to take your lead on this, only because you know more about these instances than I do, BUT if anything unusual happens after today, I expect you to tell me Lois."

"I will."

Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, he tilted his head curiously "You are going to turn up turn up today right?"

"Will you really sue if I don't?"

"Believe me, after all the wedding hoopla you've put me through over the last month, it will give me great pleasure to do so…." He paused to reflect for a beat before adding menacingly "Hell I might sue you anyway as a grim warning to all the other Bridezilla's out there, not to push us men too far."

Snickering, she leant into him and hugged tight "I wasn't that bad."

"That's you story, mine is one of cruelty and heartlessness." Clark complained and slipping his arms around her waist, hugged her back just as tight "You made me look at colour samples, you made me taste a hundred different cakes, you made me help pick out invitations, you even made me listen to a bunch of soppy songs…" He sighed and shook his head sadly "The torture was never ending I tell you."

Looking up, Lois smiled at him adoringly "I quite simply love you."

Resting his forehead on hers, Clark smiled into her eyes "You do huh?"

"Yeah."

Pressing a kiss to the side of her head, he stepped back reluctantly "I'd better go before mom notices I'm not at the farm."

"And I'd better go before my friends come looking for me….." Picking up her torn panties from the ground, she cocked one brow "You realise I'm going to have to find some other lingerie to wear now."

"Go commando."

"Not under my wedding dress; ewww!"

"Well you have heaps of that stuff so just pick anything."

Nodding, she shoved them in a pocket of her robe then lifted one hand to her hair hesitantly "Did my hair survive?"

He looked at the slightly messy do and confessed "Mostly."

Exhaling hugely in relief, she smiled brightly "Well it was worth it so that's good enough for me."

Leaning forward, he puckered up his lips in expectation of a kiss and puckering up hers in return, Lois clasped his face and smacked them gently together.

"See you soon."

"Bye."

oOo

Once more standing in his bedroom freshly showered and dressed but feeling much more the thing, Clark called out at the soft tap on his door and smiled when his mom entered the room.

"Oh sweetie, you look so handsome." Martha came over, slipped one arm around his waist and looked at his reflection.

"Thanks." He smiled at her in the mirror "It's funny huh; I've been thinking about dad quite a bit the last couple of days and now I swear it's almost like I can hear him having a good laugh at my expense, for all the talking I did years ago about wanting to get rid of Lois."

She cupped his cheeks "When your father first passed away, I missed him so badly and wanted to think he was still with us in spirit. But after you told me that you died and saw him and he told you that he'd always be with us, I believed it utterly."

"So did I." He hugged her to him.

"So yes, I believe he is here and yes I think he'd definitely be having a good laugh but he'd also be pleased as punch." She pressed her lips to his cheek before pulling back to fiddle with his tie "I think your father knew that Lois was the one for you, just as he knew that one day you'd be using your powers to help those in need. You've been doing the second for a long time now and soon you'll be doing it in a more public way but it had to be in your time, when you were ready and he knew that; which is why he didn't say when it would happen, just that you would. More than likely he's just been waiting all these years for that to come to pass and for you and Lois to find each other again to close the circle."

"I wish he'd told me back then that Lois was the one."

"You weren't even ready to hear that you were going to be a symbol to the world back then honey, but I think he wanted you to know that, so you'd hate yourself a little less for being an alien but as for Lois…" She quirked one brow and asked directly "Would you have believed him, much less accepted it?"

"No."

"And that's probably why he didn't tell you." She smiled and patted his arm "I wouldn't have either."

"Really?"

"Really." She confirmed cheerfully "Trying to push your child in any direction is the fastest way to ensure they'll balk and set their face against it from the outset and when your child is as stubborn as ours was, well…." Martha left the rest unspoken but rolled her eyes pointedly.

Grinning at that but knowing she was right, he bobbed his head in agreement. At the loud snuffle, he looked at the dog fast asleep on the bed and his lips pursed "Are you sure that you don't mind looking after the Attila while we're away mom?"

"Sweetie, he's no bother. He's the sweetest little dog and since you and Lois have made sure he's gotten used to being with me without the two of you around, it'll be fine."

"I know but we're going to be gone for a week and Lois is worried that he'll get anxious. Considering the state he was in when she found him it's not surprising but if he does start to fret or misbehave give me a call. I can fly us back for an hour or two so he can see that we haven't abandoned him."

"I will but I really don't think it'll be a problem honey. He's used to being at the farm and he's used to me now too." She finished and taking a quick look at the clock, swept one hand down his tie "Anyway the reason I came in was to tell you we had to leave soon, are you ready?"

Grabbing the comb of his dresser, he swiped it through his hair before shoving it into his back pocket "While you grab your bag, I'll just put Attila in the barn or he'll no doubt trot along after the car the whole way into town."

Scooping up the dog, Clark laughed at the high pitched yap of protest the beast let out at being woken up and zoomed outside.

oOo

_Spare room in the town hall - Approx: 12.15pm_

Lois pressed a hand to her tummy and gulping down the glass of champagne, held it out hopefully "Can I have another one?"

Carol pursed her lips and turned to Anne "What'd you think?"

"Not if you want to walk down the aisle sober." She advised apologetically and shoved a tray of canapés under the brides nose "Have a cracker."

Scooping up one, then another, then a third Lois shoved them in and munched "How do I look?"

The two friends tilted their heads in consideration "You might want to ask that again when your mouth's not full." Anne advised prudently.

"Oh...um ok." Swallowing the mouthful, she grabbed the glass of water sitting on the bench and after finishing it off, wiped her mouth delicately before checking her teeth and reapplying the lipstick. Picking up her bouquet, she took a step back and asked expectantly "So how do I look?"

"You look beautiful." The women answered together.

Turning to her reflection in the mirror Lois scanned her eyes up and down. Her gown was a simple A-line ivory silk creation, with a princess halter neckline and a hem that just touched the floor in back but lifted slightly at the front to allow her shoes, crystal embellished sling backs to peek out.

Her makeup was soft, her hair swept up high leaving the curls loose at the top and then pinned to hold them in place, with just a few strategic curls to frame her face and a trio of medium sized crystal flower pins set in to give it a romantic touch. Her only other adornment was a pair of vintage style cubic zirconia drop earrings and her engagement ring which would be switched from her right hand to her left after the ceremony.

The look she'd wanted was classic and simple with just a smidge of allure and felt pleased with the result.

"Do you think Clark will like it?" She asked anxiously.

"Lo, I guarantee you won't have a problem with him liking it. The only problem you might have is stopping him from throwing you over his shoulder, before the vows are even exchanged." Anne advised deadpan.

Smiling hugely at that, she winked at Anne before turning to Carol with eyes opened wide in innocence "Ok well that's enough about me. Curious minds want to know if our eyes have been deceiving us; or if a certain man who lives in Smallville..."

"By the name of Dean Marshall." Anne tossed in chirpily.

"Right…." Lois nodded and continued "….has been showing a marked partiality for a certain woman we both love…"

"By the name of Carol Martin." Anne supplied helpfully.

"That's the one…." Lois agreed brightly "And if she's been showing the same partiality towards him, or if we've been seeing something that's just not there."

Carol brushed rosily "I like him."

"How much?" They asked together.

Smoothing one hand through her short cap of hair, she smiled cautiously "I like him well enough that when he asked me if I'd thought about visiting Smallville sometime in the near future, I just happened to mention I've got holidays coming up next month, so might spend them here."

When the two women smiled heartily in approval, she held up one hand "Girls please, I'm happy to come back for a holiday to see how things go but let's not get ahead of ourselves ok?"

"Fair enough…." Turning to Anne, Lois smiled eagerly "Why don't you come with Carol; then all three of us will be here."

Her nose wrinkled "I'll think about it but I'm not too keen on playing third wheel with you and Clark or Carol and Dean."

"You won't be." They both protested emphatically.

At her half-hearted shrug, Lois looked her straight in the eye "Firstly, we'd never allow you to feel left out and in secondly, considering the men in this town I wouldn't be surprised if your time isn't taken up with one or another of them. Add the women who are extremely friendly on top of that and you won't have time to feel like a gooseberry with any couple."

Anne's lips twitched "Well they are a very friendly lot."

"That's because we're Lois' friends." Carol put in wryly.

"Where the women are concerned, I'll agree but only at first. This is a small town so it takes a while for them to open up with strangers but as for the men; please…." Lois scoffed rudely "That had nothing to do with me and everything to do with you both being female."

Chuckling, they nodded in agreement.

"So you'll come?" Carol asked hopefully.

"Please."

At their pleading faces, she laughed "I'll come, I'll come."

At the soft tap on the door, Anne stepped over to answer and seeing who was on the other side, pulled it open wider in greeting.

"Hi General Lane."

Sam Lane stepped into the room and smiled at all three. Excusing themselves after a minute, Carol and Anne stepped out leaving father and daughter alone.

Waiting for him to say something, Lois asked apprehensively "What'd you think?"

Sam Lane shook his head and simply stared "I think the last time I saw a bride looking so beautiful was when your sister got married, and the time before that was when I saw your mother."

Her smiled bloomed and stepping forward she pressed her lips to his cheek "Thank you daddy."

Taking out his hanky, Sam blew his nose and the proud smile on his face was replaced by one of self-satisfaction.

Feeling her antenna quiver in alarm, Lois' eyes widened "What have you done?"

"Now don't you go fussing; I only did what any father worth his salt would have done." At her groan, he patted her shoulder reassuringly "I simply gave Clark the same warning that I gave Ron when he married Lucy. For the first 50 years he's on trial. If you're still happy after that, then I'll trust him enough to put the bazooka away and tell my men to stand down."

Chuckling softly at the pride in his voice, she shook her head "What'd he say?"

"He said the same thing Ron did; sir yes sir!" Sam grinned heartily.

Hugging him tight, she pressed another kiss to his cheek "I love you daddy."

"I love you too..." He replied quietly "...my little Lo."

Leaning back slightly she reminded him gently "I'm not so little anymore."

"You'll always be my little Lo, even when you're 90." He assured her gruffly.

Hearing the music start up, she looked around anxiously "Have I forgotten anything?"

"You look perfect."

"My lipstick?"

Sam scrutinised her and shrugged "I don't know much about these things but it looks fine to me."

Taking a quick check she swiftly applied just a touch more before turning to rub gently at his cheek. Then picked up the bouquet once more, took a deep breath and tucking her hand into his arm, pronounced "I'm ready."

oOo

As the music started Clark turned to watch Lois walk towards him, cocked one brow in challenge and saw the laughter spring to her eyes.

Sliding the band onto her finger a little while later, he felt a fierce rush of satisfaction and when slid one onto his, the satisfaction turned to triumph; a few more words and it was done. Not needing any urging to kiss his new bride, he leant forward and pressed smiling lips to hers "Hello Mrs Kent."

"Lane-Kent." She corrected softly.

Ignoring that, he murmured pleased "Lois Kent, I like it."

"Don't piss me off again or I'll hurt you." She smilingly muttered.

His smile flashed out sharp and bright and quickly slipping one arm around her waist, he dipped her deeply and covered her smiling lips with his. Coming up for air a minute later, he stood and turned them to face their cheering audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you Mr and Mrs Kent..." When Lois turned and threw the celebrant a look, he coughed and amended "I mean, Mr Kent and Mrs Lane-Kent."

"Just Kent." Clark called loudly and when she jabbed him in the side, called out even louder "Lois Kent."

oOo

_Later that night_

"My hands are full so you'll need to get the keys out of my pocket." Clark advised his new bride while standing on the porch of the cottage he'd rented for a week.

"Which one are they in?"

"Why don't you pat me down and find out." He suggested and wiggled his brows for good measure.

Giggling, she patted his jacket pockets then moved her hands south chuckling at the 'mmm' and 'hmm' sounds he was deliberately making. After a thorough search she held them up triumphantly and unlocked the door then pushed it open.

Taking a step forward he set her down in the hallway, captured her lips in a swift kiss before declaring "Ok that's it, my jobs over..." he eyed her suspiciously "...or do I have to carry you somewhere else?"

"I don't remember telling you to carry me over the threshold." She reminded him politely.

"I was just making sure that we get things off to the right start." He grinned widely in anticipation "So that means it's time for sex."

Chuckling lightly, she walked through the house to take it all in with Clark trailing behind enjoying the look on her face. Stopping at the doorway to the bedroom her eyes took in the flowers, the long stemmed candles that were being lit even as she began to move through the room, the dim lighting and the bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket beside the bed.

Feeling overwhelmed she spun in a slow circle "When did you have time to do all this?"

"Well I only needed a couple of minutes, so while you were cooing to Attila and reassuring him that we'd be back in a week, I just zipped over here to set it up." He smiled stroking one finger down her cheek "You told me that you were intending to spend the summer in a cottage at Myrtle Beach, so I thought it was the perfect place for our honeymoon."

Throwing her arms around his neck she hugged him tight "I'm happy that I changed my plans."

He slipped his arms around her waist "So am I but I figured that since you did me the favour of coming back to Smallville, that I should do one in return and give you the beach for our honeymoon."

Touched Lois pressed her lips to his "Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it and going with that theme..." he smiled at her romantically "...I think it's about time you did me another favour."

Shaking her head at his theatrical leer, she stepped over to the dressing table and began to pull the pins out of her hair.

"You know I could be wrong but that doesn't seem like an essential part of disrobing to me." Clark remarked aloud to no one in particular.

"Stop it you pervert! These pins have been stuck in my head since this morning and they're starting to give me..."

"Don't say it!" He begged pleadingly "Please don't say headache, not tonight."

"I was going to say they're starting to give me the shits." She gurgled out a laugh.

"Oh well in that case, here let me help." He began to happily assist pulling out the pins and unlike her, who'd been collecting them on the dresser allowed them to fall onto the floor.

Shaking her fingers through the mass, Lois sighed in relief "That feels better."

"Good and now..." Striding over to the bed, Clark took a seat and patted his lap invitingly "Why don't you come over here and I'll tell you what will make me feel better."

Not needing to be asked twice she made herself comfortable and pressed her lips to the corner of his "Why don't you give me a clue instead."

Sliding the zipper of her dress down to the small of her back, he slipped his hand inside and cupped one breast "That's your first?" He squeezed the globe gently "That's your second."

She licked her lips "Can you give me another?"

He pressed his lips to her shoulder and obligingly brushed his thumb over the tip.

Shivering delicately at the feeling of his hand gently compressing her breast while his thumb continued to rub over the nipple until it hardened, Lois replied throatily "I think I know."

"I was hoping you would." He murmured and locked his mouth onto hers.

Desire hit fast and hard in both of them. The morning's activities had calmed nervous but left behind a need for more which had to quelled all day. The ceremony, the reception, their attention being pulled in a hundred different directions had caused the want to grow in each.

Hands tangled and fumbled, mouths barely lifted before locking together again, neither wanted to part long enough to disrobe but found the barrier of clothes a chafing hindrance.

Wrenching his mouth free, Clark panted out "I can get us both naked in a nano-second."

"Do it."

Taking her word for assent, he slung of his jacket and shirt, dispensed with his pants and underwear before swiftly discarding her dress, stockings and lingerie.

Tugging her back into his arms, he had her down and under him a beat later "We'll take it slow next time I promise."

"Fine." She replied and locking her legs around his hips, moaned in gratitude when he thrust inside.

Panting with exertion when it was over, Clark rolled onto his back and nodded in agreement when Lois gaspingly muttered "That was incredible.

Tipping up her chin, he captured her lips in a soft kiss that grew deeper, then softer then deeper again before mouths broke apart "You're a hell of an amazing woman babe."

"Thank you, but I've been telling you this for ages, so go ahead and flatter me some more, I don't mind."

"No flattery, just truth." At the question in her eyes, he smoothed the hair back from her brow and remarked gratefully "I don't suppose many women would be happy if their husbands couldn't wait to give them romance on their wedding night but you…."

"I thought it was romantic." She interrupted cheerfully.

Chuckling, he tugged her tight "I meant..."

"I know what you meant but we tend make our own rules rather than follow standard procedure." Leaning up on one elbow, she smiled at him with unabashed delight "Besides, we have our whole lives ahead of us so who cares?"

Nodding he trailed one finger down her cheek "Lois Kent, I love you."

Her eyes narrowed "Are you trying to get on wick?"

"No, I just like the sound of it."

"Oh, well in that case I forgive you." Giving him a tentative smile, she cleared her throat softly "And I'll love you for life if you tell me the fridge is stocked."

Letting out a shout of laughter at the sound of her tummy rumbling, he nodded "We have food and plenty of it."

"Thank goodness." She groaned in relief.

Climbing out of bed, he scooped her up in his arms and enjoying her light squeal, headed for the bathroom "How about we have a shower first."

"Ok, but no water games." At his quirked brow she admitted gloomily "I really didn't eat much today and now I'm starving."

"We've got our whole lives for water games, so for now we'll just get clean." He swore faithfully and stepped with her into the shower.

oOo

Sitting back replete an hour later, Lois picked up her glass of champagne and gulped it down before holding out the glass for more.

"Had enough?"

"Mmm, thanks." She sipped and sighed in heavenly contentment "And thank you for having real food, instead of just a few tasty morsels that wouldn't have filled the hollow in my tooth."

Bobbing his head in reply to her words, he zipped around cleaning up and once that was done, cued up the CD he'd slipped into the stereo when getting the house ready for them earlier, before returning to stand in front of his wife with hand out stretched.

As the opening bars of the song 'All I have' began to play, Lois' lips curved. They'd danced to this for their bridal waltz only a few hours ago but this time there were no witnesses, no applause and no softened lights; just them.

Placing her hand in his, she got to her feet and slipping into her husband's arms, nestled her head into the crook of his shoulder while he began to manoeuvre them slowly around the small patio.

"I love seeing my ring on your finger."

Hearing the tone of contentment in his voice, Lois looked up "That's because in some small part of you, a chauvinist hides."

"It's because it means that you're mine and the world knows you're taken." He retorted lightly.

"As I was saying" she replied dryly.

Laughing softly, Clark slid his lips to her ear "The wedding ring is for me but the engagement ring is for you." At the confusion on her face, he gently swabbed his thumb over the main stone "As soon as I saw it, I knew that it was yours."

Trying to see what he did, she looked at the ring and frowned "I don't understand."

Lifting her hand, he moved it so the light refracted of the facets and for the first time, she noticed that the central diamond had been cut so it appeared to have a star sitting deep inside while the outer part of the diamond and the ones sitting on the sides showcased it "I wanted you to remember through good times and bad, that you'll always be my bright particular star Lois; always."

"I never even noticed." She looked up and shook her head "I just thought it was a beautiful ring nothing more."

"On your finger it's beautiful otherwise it's just a ring." Clark corrected matter of fact.

Touched, she swallowed heavily "And the ring you insisted on wearing, even though working on a farm it's not really practical."

"It took me a long time to find the woman I wanted to give up my bachelor life for and now that I have, I want to wear one."

"You can't wear it when you're doing your thing." She reminded him softly.

At that solemness disappeared and a huge smile took its place "So we're going to call it 'thing' now huh? Well since I need you for it to be any fun, it's really our thing and I'm definitely wearing it when we're doing….our thing!"

Snorting with amusement, she slapped his back gently "I meant your superhero thing."

"Oh yeah about that, maybe I don't need to wear the costume after all."

"Uh huh; you agreed."

"Are you saying that you only married me so that I'd wear the dumb costume?"

"Nope, I would have married you anyway buuuut..." She drawled softly "...remember when I told you how much I like seeing you in it?" Recalling the way she'd made lots of yummy noises and the phrase wow-oh-wow had been used while her hands had stroked over him; Clark smiled pleased. Lois rubbed one hand up his back and confessed "What I didn't tell you was that I've had more than one fantasy about taking that costume off you."

He dipped her, kissed her and brought her back up "Well now I'm looking forward to feeling virtuous when I help someone while wearing the dumb suit, because I know that soon afterwards I'll feel wickedly delicious when my beautiful wife helps me out of it."

Lois threw her head back in laughter and hooking her arms around his neck sealed her lips to his.

When their lips parted, he blew out a deep breath and shook his head clear "By the way, even when I wear the costume the ring stays on my finger."

"Are you sure that you want to do that Clark?" Lois asked concerned "After making your first official appearance, the press are bound to inundate you with questions and a wedding ring won't go unnoticed."

"Baby, that's precisely why I chose to put off until after we were married." He informed her calmly "If I wear a ring from the very beginning, it won't garner anywhere near the amount of scrutiny or comment than it would if I began wearing it afterwards."

"They'll still question it."

"And I'll just tell them my wife and I like the earth custom of wearing wedding rings, so decided to adopt it even though we're not human ourselves."

"You're going to pretend I'm an alien." She asked amused.

"Yuh huh but you don't live here on Earth because the atmosphere doesn't agree with your sickly constitution." He confirmed readily.

"Sickly!" Lois' mouth fell open "You're making me an invalid?"

"No, no not an invalid, just feeble…" He smiled and added tauntingly "…or should I say, imaginative."

Coming to a stop, she glared "So I'm not just an alien but a hypochondriac to boot?"

"Mmm and much like Mr Rochester, I'm keeping you locked away from the world."

"Now I'm a mad woman as well!" She yelped indignantly.

"Not a mad woman, a mad alien…." He corrected slowly "….and I'm the long suffering but extremely caring husband; pretty neat huh."

"Pretty neat!" She repeated flabbergasted "I'll thank you to remember that Mr Rochester didn't love his wife; she was just a miserable duty the poor man couldn't abandon."

"Yeah and now that I've got my own mad wife, I know just how he feels." Clark shook his head in melancholy then dodged when she tried to punch him "I'm kidding." Tugging her back into his arms, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head "I'll just tell them I'm married but I won't discuss my private life."

Snuggling into him, Lois shook her head "They won't be happy about that Clark."

"Too bad..." He shrugged indifferently "If they don't like it, then I'll just ask them if they want me to stick around to help or not."

"Of course they'll say yes. They won't dare say otherwise and risk lives just because you won't tell them anything." She replied thoughtfully then smiled as understanding bloomed "That's pretty sneaky, yet brilliant."

"I know." He preened brightly "I'll do the press conference Bruce and Oliver suggested, at which time I'll reveal that I'm the mysterious stranger who's been helping inconspicuously for years and the JLA will of course back me up in that. When asked why I haven't come out of the woodwork before now and believe me they'll ask; I'll just make up some excuse that's a mixture of both truth and lies to satisfy them."

"Like what?"

"Well I'll simply say that I had to learn how to control my strength and utilise my powers correctly before I was ready to use them openly. If they want an example then I'll explain that things humans take for granted, such as shaking someone's hand for instance, is something I had to learn how to do to ensure that I wouldn't break said hand in the process.

"Did you really have to do that?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah baby I did." His confirmed readily "When I was a child, I had to be careful not to hold my mom's hand too tight and when I was a kid, dad had to teach me not to throw a ball too hard so I could play with Pete and when I was a teenager, I had to learn a whole new set of things. I was on a constant learning curve from the day I arrived on this planet and although I mastered the last of my powers well over a decade ago, I'll use that as the reason why I haven't shown myself before now." He shrugged uncaring "I'll just say that I had to be sure before I stepped out and now I am; end of story."

"Well that makes sense."

"Yeah, anyway about a week or so after the press conference Chloe will just happen to get an interview with me, which will contain some more information about my Kryptonian roots that I don't mind sharing with the world." His mouth crooked up in a small smile of amusement "That will be good for her job and good PR for me and since the public won't know that I'm the newest superhero on the block, they'll be satisfied with any details about my alien heritage that I'll allow to be leaked, which is yet another side benefit that works in my favour."

She grinned at the smug tone in his voice "You can be extremely deceptive."

"Oh yeah and I have no conscience about it either; not when it comes to protecting my nearest and dearest from being plagued by the media or wack-jobs looking for vengeance" He agreed unconcerned "I'm more than happy to share details of my life as Kal-el from Krypton but Clark Kent is not open for public scrutiny, which includes details about my wife." He lifted his left hand and trapped his ring finger with his thumb "So as I said before, this ring is staying on my finger. Someone's going to have to cut it off, before I'll take it off."

"You've become a sap." She murmured touched.

"Maybe so; all I know is that I'm not going to let anyone think my alter ego is the slightest bit interested in any woman except for his wife." He shrugged philosophically "I only worked at the Daily Planet for a year but one thing I learned very quickly is if journalists can slant a story to make headlines, they will. So if everyone knows up front that I'm married, reporters will have a hell of a time trying to say I'm interested in another woman, much less linked to her romantically."

She gave him a droll look "They'll probably say that anyway."

"And I'll categorically refute it." He declared bluntly "I'm not going to put up with any of that shit Lois. I'm going to going to make it plain from the outset that I'm very much in love with my wife and that's as much of my personal life as they'll get."

"So you love me." She asked playfully.

"I surely do."

Looping her arms over his shoulders, Lois sighed in delight when he nuzzled the curve of her jaw.

"Now how about we forget about all of that and get back to enjoying our honeymoon." Clark asked quietly.

"Yes please."

Swaying her softly to the music, he cupped her bottom and pressing his lower body against hers, rubbed slowly and suggestively against her.

Shivering delicately at the feeling of his hardness pressing against her, she buried her face in his neck and let out a small betraying gasp when his mouth slid from her cheek to her ear "That's not fair."

"I know." Clark whispered and blew into the shell before grasping onto the lobe with his teeth and smiled in quiet satisfaction when her breasts firmed against his chest, even as her body began to quake.

Burrowing closer, she slipped her hands under his shirt and raked her nails gently down the base of his spine feeling his back muscles ripple in response. Arms tightened, lips met and clung only parting long enough to change angles before meeting again as tongues wove and danced in a long slow exploration until finally separating reluctantly when a deep breath was needed by both.

Wanting more, simply needing to be together in the most intimate of ways, they turned as one and with an arm around each other's waist, stepped inside and closed the door.


	17. Chapter 17

Hi everyone

Thank you for the lovely feedback on the last chapter, and the encouraging messages from those eager for another.

Well here it is and just a warning; it's HUGE. It's even longer than my normal long chapters so that gives you some idea of what to expect. I didn't intend to make it this big but the chapter just kept growing and there was nothing I could take out because truthfully, I didn't want to.

I like the characters having everyday conversations and doing irrelevant stuff. I like to imagine they have a life that's got nothing to do with super-powers and all that jazz and as the author, well I make the rules, lol.

So anyway, it was a challenge to write and I'm very relieved it's finally done, so I hope you all enjoy it.

Linda

oOo

**12****th**** October **_- approx: 10.10am_

Lois shuddered as the scaffolding under her feet vibrated. Swiping her palms down her skirt, she clamped her hands onto the bars of the waist high cage and looked down at the horde of people gathered below.

She could hear their screams and wanted to yell that they weren't helping but the saliva in her mouth had dried up, and small whimpers were the only thing escaping her lips.

This was not good.

She'd come up here to help. Well that had been the intention but now she was the one in need of rescue.

As the structure shook and swayed before sloping a little more on its side, a trembling scream tore out of her mouth in accord with the gathering down below. Swallowing down the ball of fear lodged in her throat, she shaded her eyes to look up and seeing the hoist sloped precariously over the side of the building, sat on the floor of the platform and dropped her head onto her knees.

She wasn't ready to die.

She'd only been married for little more than a week and wanted to be married for a whole lot longer before going into that long goodnight. Besides, this wasn't the way she'd pictured it. She'd always imagined herself being old; really old.

Taking a quick peek at her watch, she shook her head fatalistically. Unless the emergency crews had a miracle up their sleeve, or her husband just happened to catch the news and saw her predicament, she was done for.

Hearing a tearing sound of metal on metal, she felt her heart slam against her ribcage and clinging onto the bars of the cage as tightly as possible, curled herself into a ball and screamed when the hoist finally broke, sending the structure into a rapid descent.

oOo

_Earlier that morning: approx 6am_

Tapping her fingers impatiently, Lois sighed loudly before calling out in a hopeful voice "Honey, are you almost done?"

At her call, Clark looked at himself in the mirror and made a face. This was it. In a few hours his guise as the mysterious stranger would be history. He wasn't entirely comfortable with that given all the years of relative obscurity he'd managed to obtain but it was time. The only thing he was a little anxious about was the possibility of being recognised by the people in Smallville. It wasn't even the general populace he was concerned with, just his closest friends and it wasn't them discovering the truth he gave a crap about; it was the prospect of being discovered while wearing the suit that mortified him.

That was how he'd come to think of it; the suit!

Sneer very much in evidence.

And that was his problem in a nutshell.

His secret could go hang!

"_Darling!"_

Hearing the sugared nuance in Lois' second call, his eyes shifted in the mirror to glare at the door. This was all his wife's doing and now the little pain in the neck was trying to coax him out by calling sweetly. Well it wasn't going to work.

Turning his eyes back to his own reflection, his mouth turned down.

His friends were good men and although they'd never said anything out loud, he was strongly of the suspicion they knew he was hiding something. Yet they'd never arrogantly presumed that his business was their business, just because they were friends and questioned him. However, if they did recognise him today, he wasn't going to make them feel foolish by pretending he wasn't the newest superhero to join the league. He'd simply confess all and be done with it. BUT if they gave him a hard time about wearing this primary coloured circus outfit, he'd bloody their noses good and proper.

Maybe he should do it anyway; sort of get in before they do. Besides, he was pretty sure that he owed Neil a punch or two. Dean frequently asked for a thrashing. Mark needed a good belt for something or another and Tim would feel left out if he didn't get his share so….

"Claaaaaark."

Catching the growl in the tone of her sing-songed third call, he shook his head clear and after a last look at himself in the mirror, shrugged gloomily before stepping out of the bathroom and striding into the bedroom.

Sitting up at his entrance, Lois licked her lips as her eyes roved down, then up, then down, then up pausing here and there to take in every centimetre of the delicious specimen standing in front of her "I've had sex with him heaps of times. Heaps and heaps and believe you me; he's really good!"

"Who are you talking to?" Clark frowned in bewilderment.

"Myself…" She replied pertly "I was just pretending my friends were here, and I was bragging to them that I've done you lots."

Chuckling, he stepped forward and scooped her up "And you have an open invitation to do me any time you like."

Cupping his face, she smacked their lips together and took a step back "You look really great."

"I feel ridiculously exposed in this thing."

"You don't look ridiculous; trust me" Tilting her head this way and that, she nodded impressed "I love what you've done with your hair."

"Please tell me you didn't just make a comment about my hair" Clark griped loudly and swiped a hand over his face.

"Well since you must have spent some time to get it like that, I just wanted you to know that I noticed and it looks great." Rifling her fingers through his hair, she added pleased "I really like the S curl you've done in front. It sort of matches the one on your suit and…."

"Stop!" Holding one hand up for emphasis, he informed her clearly "Baby, I'm not one of your girlfriends. So I'm not interested in chatting about my weight, clothes, hairstyles or any of that crap you women seem to enjoy discussing to death. I fiddled with my hair for 10 seconds and that was only so I'd look slightly different as Kal-el than I do as Clark. I didn't do it to make myself look younger or skinner or prettier; so can we please drop it?"

Pressing her lips together to hold back the snort of laughter, she nodded silently.

"Good."

"Can I talk now?"

"As long as you don't want to discuss hair; go ahead."

Giving him a droll look, she ran her hands over his shoulders and smoothed the cape near the nape of his neck "Are you nervous?"

"A little but that's because I don't like the spotlight and this press do is about me in particular" He replied with a slight eye lift.

"Well I'm sure you'll be fabulous" Lois smiled big and wide "Now don't forget; Attila and I will be glued to the telly watching the conference, so be sure to give us a little wave."

"I'm not giving you any kind of wave" He disabused swiftly.

"Just a really tiny super-fast one is all I mean."

"No!" He shot down crushingly and ignoring her pout, tapped her on the chin "But don't you forget; mom's taping the conference. So you're not to drive like a mad woman just to get home and watch it."

"I won't" She rolled her eyes feelingly "Like I told you before; I'm just going to Metropolis to look at the proofs of the wedding photos and then I'm coming straight home. So I'll be back in plenty of time."

"No you won't" He swiftly negated "It's just past 6am now and the conference is at 10.30, so you won't have any time, much less plenty of it."

"Sure I will" She waved one hand dismissively "It may be a six hour drive there and back but I can easily make it in half that time without any problem."

"I thought you just said that you weren't going to drive like a mad woman" He reminded her dryly.

"I won't have to…" She patted his check consolingly "Why do you think I got up so early?" Not giving him time to answer, Lois continued pleased with herself "It's because there's nothing but miles of open road between Smallville and Metropolis. So the only time I'll get held up is when I'm close to the city itself but for that long stretch of road in between, I can just put my foot to the pedal and cruise. So you see, I have it all worked out."

"Oh no you don't!" Clark wagged his head and informed her sweetly "There'll be no putting of the foot to the pedal. I expect you to keep to the speed limit and I want your promise to do it."

"But then I won't make it home in time" She wailed disappointed.

Unmoved, he crossed his arms and countered sternly "Lois, I don't want my wife ending up in ditch with a broken neck, just because she was racing home to watch me on television."

"But I don't want to miss your debut on telly and…."

"I'm not budging on this babe and I'll be supremely pissed if you give me your word just to shut me up now and later find some excuse to break it." He stated inflexibly.

"This is all Jimmy's fault" She muttered crossly "Any photographer worth his salt would take weeks and weeks just to get proofs back to me but being family, he had to make our photos his priority." Her eyes slitted in determination "I'm going to tell Kara to kick to his ass onto the moon."

When she stopped to take a breath, Clark advised calmly "I'm waiting."

Pretending she hadn't heard, Lois gave a disgusted snort and continued "If he didn't call me last night to say the proofs were ready, I would have been happy to wait but noooo, he just had to ring knowing very well I'd want to see them straight away…..hmpff; men!"

Ignoring the slur, he remarked blandly "And I'm still waiting."

"And what was all that guff about not sending them to me on line huh; answer me that?" She muttered fiercely.

"He posted a couple of photos in an album on line, sent you the link and promised to get the rest up as soon as possible but you just couldn't wait and harassed the poor man until he told you he was going to be in Metropolis today, upon which you decided to join him" Clark reminded her dryly.

"Which I wouldn't have done, if he hadn't called me in the first place" She muttered unappeased. "Besides the photos he posted were watermarked and not very good quality; just what kind of photographer is he anyway?"

"The professional kind whose looking out for himself and if I remember correctly; you squealed in delight when you saw the one's he sent" Tipping up her chin, Clark lifted one brow "And you're not going to distract me from our conversation."

Her eyes flittered away from his "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lois!"

Hearing the tone in her husband's voice that meant he wasn't going to budge, she grumbled unsatisfied "Fine; I'll borrow the video from your mom and watch it when I get home."

"Good" Seeing the contemplative look on her face that meant her mind was ticking over, he bent down until his nose was touching hers "Lois."

Uncaring of the tone this time, she perked up winningly "I can watch it live without any problem."

"Oh; where?"

"The Daily Planet…." Lois grinned hugely in relief "I'll be in Metropolis anyway, so I'll just pop in there to watch it. Chloe won't mind and since there's no way a bunch of reporters are going to miss something like that, it's all good."

"You seem to have it all covered."

"Course I do…up here for thinking" She tapped her temple pleased "Also me being in Metropolis while you're doing the conference actually works out in your favour."

"How so?"

"I'll tell you later" Hooking her arms over his neck, she wiggled her brows playfully "So now that I have a little more time to waste, how about we have another go round before I leave."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we go at it like rabbits on our honeymoon."

"Uh huh."

"And didn't we do it on the bedroom floor last night because we couldn't wait to get to the bed?" He tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Yeah."

"And didn't we just drag our waterlogged asses out of the shower half an hour ago?"

"And your point is?" She asked lifting one brow in query.

"My point is that I definitely married the right woman." Grinning, he hooked his arms around her waist and tumbled down onto the bed with her.

Tugging down the zipper of the suit, she slipped her hands inside to smooth over the muscles of his back and hummed deep in her throat "I really, really love you in this thing."

"You mean that you love to get me out of it" Clark murmured pressing his lips to her jaw.

"Mmm hmm."

The sound of lips meeting and parting, soft secretive chuckles as fingers fumbled with capes and skin tight clothes, deep sighs and the quickness of breathing followed by a long contented silence, were the only sounds for the next little while.

Smoothing one hand over his chest afterward, she whispered mischievously "You know I've got to admit, it feels both wicked and delicious to do a superhero."

Chuckling, he grasped a fistful of hair and tugging gently, pulled her closer for a deep kiss "You make me feel like such a tramp."

Giggling, she gave his shoulder a quick pat of sympathy before sliding out of bed "Unfortunately, I don't have time to make you feel like that again right now. I've gotta have a shower and get going."

"Done with me are you?"

"Only for now" She reassured and blowing him a kiss, headed for the shower.

oOo

Standing in front of the mirror half an hour later, Lois studied her husband who was sitting on the edge of the bed and licked her lips "How about putting on the suit again."

Tickled, Clark nevertheless pointed one finger threateningly "Get that look out of your eye woman. You have to get on the road and I've got things to do."

Slinking over, she plopped herself into his lap "We can save lots of time if you fly me to Metropolis and pick me up after your done at the conference."

"I can do that but we still don't have time to fool around now." Her lower lip stuck out in a pout, he rolled his eyes in return "Man does not live by sex alone. There's some work at the farm I need to get done before going onto the conference and since I need supplies in town to do that work, I have to go there first."

"Well I'll still accept the lift but how about wearing the suit for me tonight?"

"And what will you be wearing?"

"Anything you like" She vowed sincerely.

His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas morning "Deal."

Giggling she smacked her lips to his cheek "First I'd better call Jimmy and ask him if he'd mind me coming earlier than planned."

Reaching for her purse, she pulled out her phone to call him and after doing so, grumbled "Well the nerve of that man. Do you know what he just confessed? He actually arrived in Metropolis last night but didn't tell me, so I wouldn't have you fly me there and bug him."

Clark's shoulders shook "And I'm grateful, since I'm sure you would have bugged me to do so."

Giving a superior sniff in reply, she informed him loftily "Anyway he said it's not a problem if I want to drop in earlier, but asked if I could make it around 8 because I just woke him up and he wants to have a shower first."

Taking a look at the clock, his pursed his lips "Well then we'd better get going. I'll stop in town first to pick up what I need first and fly you from the farm afterwards, since there's less likelihood of us being seen from there."

"Ok." Getting to her feet, Lois reached for her purse and pulling out her phone, looked at him expectantly "What time will you be leaving for the press do? I want to call and give you a last minute good luck and since you're going to turn your phone off beforehand, I want to catch you before that happens so I'll send myself a reminder message." She paused and tacked on hurriedly "Not that I'll need it because I can't imagine forgetting but it doesn't hurt to have my phone ring and remind me, so what time?"

Waiting for her to run down, his lips twitched "About 8.30…"

"Why so early?" She cut in surprised.

"Because I want to drop in at the fortress and talk to Jor-el before going on to meet the guys at the watchtower. So I'll fly you to Metropolis then take care of what I have to around the farm, before going onto the fortress."

"Why are you going to see Jor-el now? Are you worried that whatever he did won't work and someone will recognise you?"

"No; he said that no one would and he's never lied to me."

"But he could be wrong."

"Baby, Jor-el is hardly ever wrong. In fact he's so often right that it's damned annoying." Clark replied with a slight smile "Why do you think I argued with him so much back in the day."

"Well from what you've told me, it's because you were a brat" She replied straight faced.

"Yeah but one of the reasons I was to him in particular, is because he's the only one who didn't buckle under to all my snivelling." Clark admitted frankly "Mom, dad and Chloe supported me unfailingly and I won't deny that. However, they also quite often told me what I wanted to hear, or talked about some great destiny that was in store for me someday. The first only encouraged me to believe they agreed with my delusions about Lana being the one, while the second was totally pointless since I just wanted was to be a regular Joe and clung to my infantile dreams of a life with her, as a means to achieve that end." His lips lifted in a small smile of self-mockery "Jor-el on the other hand didn't give a damn about my desire for a normal life. He cared about all the lives he'd sent me here to save, and he made certain I knew it."

"Didn't you tell me he's just a machine?" Lois asked bewildered.

"Yeah but that machine has personality; the kind that doesn't put up with temper tantrums or bullshit." At her burst of laughter, he grinned hugely in return "It really does feel like my father's there, which explains why I never felt ridiculous arguing with him."

Hearing the affection in his tone, Lois cocked her head in query "You're fond of him."

"Yeah I am." He admitted readily "And that's why I want to go see him. Mom knows that today I'm going public and I think Jor-el deserves the respect of knowing too."

"I'm sure he'll be proud of you."

"I'm sure he'll want to give me some last minute advice." Clark replied amused "He really can't help himself you know and that's why I'm going early, so he can chat away to his heart's content."

Chuckling lightly, Lois patted his chest "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Ok so let's get going, I've got photos to see." Slinging the strap of her purse over her shoulder, Lois all but danced in excitement while making her way down the hall to the lounge room.

Tagging along behind Clark beseeched pleadingly "Try not to overspend at the shops while you're out."

"What makes you think I'm going shopping?" At his snort, she sniffed loudly "Well for your information I'm just going to looks at photos and then I'm going to the Planet to watch the conference."

"Sure you are."

"I might do a little window shopping if time permits, but that doesn't mean I'll be spending any money" She replied airily.

"Huh!" He grunted in disbelief.

"We have to get going" She retorted tartly and gave him a poke for good measure.

Noting she hadn't disagreed, he replied smugly "I'll get the mutt" and turned for the back door but stopped when she grabbed his hand.

"You really do look wonderful in the suit."

"Maybe you're biased."

"I'm very biased towards those I love" She confirmed solidly "And it's for that reason precisely I wouldn't let you look like a fool in public without saying something, especially when I know how you feel about the suit in the first place."

Sweeping her up in his arms, his lips captured hers in a long deep kiss "Thanks."

"Mmm." Opening drowsy eyes, she licked her lips slowly to capture his taste and smiled "We definitely don't have time?"

"Unfortunately no, but I'll be happy to give you all you can handle later. For now, we have to get Attila and get going."

Knowing her husband didn't like missing out, she figured he had to be telling the truth and gave it up "Ok."

oOo

_Approx 8.45am_

Looking at the photos completely entranced, Lois ignored the coffee at her elbow while Jimmy sat opposite enjoying his. Scrolling through them as slowly as she could but unable to stop for longer than a beat before moving onto the next, her finger continued to click the mouse button as her smiled continued to grow "The photos are lovely Jimmy; just beautiful."

"I'm glad you like them."

"I love them." Picking up her cup, she took a quick sip before clicking through the pictures once again "I can't really choose which one's I want for the album but I think I have found the one for the mantle."

"I'll begin posting all of them in the on line album when I get home tonight, and should hopefully have it finished sometime tomorrow. Then you can take your time to select the one's you want." He promised faithfully.

"Thanks." Taking another fortifying sip of the hot brew, she remarked hesitantly "Alright, I'm braced to hear the bad news. How much is all of this going to cost me?"

His lips crooked up faintly "Nothing."

Stunned, her eyes opened wide "What? Jimmy, I know professional photographers are expensive and.…"

"This is mine and Kara's wedding present to you and Clark." He cut in to inform her simply.

"Um…does that also include the photo I want to put on the mantle?" She asked sheepishly.

Laughing at her audacity which he'd always appreciated, he nodded "It does, I'll also be making you a CD of all the photos excluding any you don't like of course. So just take note of the one's you want in the album and which you don't want at all and when it's done, Kara said she'll be happy to drop everything off at the farm. Unfortunately she can't come to your place since the neighbours might see her arrive but if you give her a call to arrange a time, she'll meet you at the farm."

Touched at being the recipient of such a generous gift, Lois replied softly "Thank you and please tell Kara we said thank you as well."

"I will."

"Is she here with you in Metropolis?"

"No, she's still in New York" He replied readily "This is one of her busy weeks on Secret Hearts, so she couldn't get away but she'll pick me up later when shooting for the day is over."

"Did she drop you here then?"

"Yeah; I have an interview with the editor of the Daily Planet at 9.15am, which is why I couldn't get out to Smallville to show you the proofs." He told her apologetically.

"That's why you're all dressed up." Lois nodded in understanding and waved one hand around the room "But if your appointment was for today, why did you arrive last night? I mean you could have come this morning and saved yourself the cost of a hotel room?"

"Well the money I saved on airfare pays for the hotel room, so I haven't really lost anything." He shrugged uncaring "But since Kara has to be on set by 6am, I preferred to stay here last night, rather than being dropped off at some ungodly hour this morning and since she won't be free to pick me up before 6.30 tonight, I thought a hotel room would suit my needs. I can come and go as I please, plus I have a safe place to store my laptop and portfolio, instead of lugging them around with me all day."

"Good thinking um…." Coughing lightly, Lois asked somewhat timidly "You don't feel funny having your wife fly you around?"

Coughing out his sip of coffee, Jimmy half laughed, half groaned "Of course I do but since I don't believe in cutting off my nose to spite my face, I'd rather swallow my pride and feel funny for a few minutes to get where I need to quickly, instead of throwing good money away on catching a plane that will take hours to get me where I want to be. Besides, she doesn't fly me places very often but when she does, I make up for it afterwards by doing something really manly, like ripping up the driveway with a jackhammer." At her sputtering laugh, he wiggled his brows and tacked on "I also do other things that seem to delight my wife no end."

She rolled her eyes "Sex, sex, sex; do men think that solves everything."

"It sure can't hurt." He grinned unrepentant.

"You know that smile reminds me so much about some of the things we used to get up to." She grinned in return.

His smile grew wider "Remember when we tried to prove your boyfriend was the Green Arrow and those guys showed up."

"I remember you bitching about them while cradling your hand." She snickered tauntingly.

"Hey my hand hurt and I was expecting actor's not real thugs." He laughed in protest.

"Well I suppose that I should cut you some slack, since you rushed in to try and rescue me." She remarked with pseudo graveness.

"You're welcome." He replied snottily and lifted his cup in salute "To the good old days."

"The good old days" She repeated and taking a sip of coffee, tilted her head inquiringly "So the Daily Planet huh. You're thinking of moving back here to work there again?"

"Well I'm going to try." He replied frankly "Kara's contract is up next year and she's decided not to renew, so we're tossing up between moving to Chicago or returning to Metropolis."

"Why Chicago?"

"Well she likes it there and although it's a nice, I prefer Metropolis." He lifted one shoulder negligently "But we made a deal when I moved to New York for her job on Secret Hearts, that the next time we move will be for my job. So it really depends on how my interview at the Planet goes today, as to whether she attends college here or there."

"College; she's thinking of switching professions?"

"Yep, she's had enough of being a soap opera star and now wants to be a student counsellor but she needs a degree first; hence college." He replied with a lopsided smile "As for me, well I'm happy to support anything that will stop my wife from having to kiss other men, while wearing little more than a hanky."

Chuckling, Lois set down her empty cup "I'm sure she hates it."

"I'm going to hate losing all the practice she does on me." He replied cheekily. Taking a look at his watch, Jimmy smiled apologetically "Sorry Lois, my interview's in 15 minutes so I have to get going. If you talk to Clark before the conference, please wish him good luck from me."

"I wished him good luck when he dropped me off but I'll be sure to pass on your belated wishes when I see him later."

"Thanks… um, I assume you're not going to miss the conference and since you don't have time to get home; did you want to stay and watch it here?"

"I appreciate the offer but I'm going to watch it with Chloe at the Daily Planet so I'm good." Powering down the laptop, she got to her feet and waited for him to collect his portfolio before preceding him to the door.

Standing on the street a couple of minutes later, she gave his arm a pat "I've still got over an hour to while away, so I'm going to walk around for a bit. Good luck with the interview and thanks again for the photos."

With a nod and wave, Jimmy turned towards the business district where the Planet was located, while Lois headed towards the shops.

oOo

Pausing outside the doors of Bloomingdales, Lois looked at her watch and chewed her lip in deliberation. It was just on 9am and Chloe wasn't expecting her until just before 10.30 but she really didn't have lots of time to spare. If she began shopping, then she ran the risk of losing track of time and subsequently being pissed at herself if she missed even one minute of Clark's debut. However if she went to the Planet's offices now, then she'd have nothing to do but twiddle her thumbs while waiting for time to pass. Her best bet was to have a leisurely mid-morning snack to kill some time and head to the Planet afterwards.

Less than 10 minutes later she was sitting at an alfresco café, watching the throngs of people passing by while waiting for her order to arrive, when the world seemed to shift. Everything around her became distorted; the crowds receded, the noise of the vehicles in the street barely penetrating, the clink of cutlery and conversation of the café patrons nothing but a whisper.

Frightened, she got to her feet then sat down hard when the ground seemed to swing under her feet.

Reaching out slowly in an effort to anchor herself onto something, she grasped onto the edge of the table and let out a long slow breath of relief as the world moved back into place. Closing her eyes tightly, she took one deep breath after another, hoping the giddiness in her head and the queasiness in her stomach would cease when the vision hit with the force of a freight train.

Trying not to gag as the pictures of what could be flashed through her head in rapid succession, Lois clamped her fingers onto the table and wished the vision would desist. Gasping in appeasement when it was over but knowing she didn't have the luxury of time to give herself a minute or baby the pounding in her skull, she shakily threw some money on the table and sprinted for the sidewalk.

Dodging around pedestrians she ran past one building, then another and another before coming to a stop and looking up. Deaf to the grumbling of those who had to step around her, she saw the swing platform suspended from the roof of the building and dragging her eyes away from the window washer suspended inside it, counted the floors from the ground up before dashing for the building's entrance while frantically pulling her cell phone out of her purse.

Hoping that she'd counted correctly, Lois smiled at the security guard stationed in the lobby and walked as sedately as possible to the banks of lifts. Silently cursing when she heard the 'not in service at this time' message on Clark's phone, cursing again when the lift seem to take forever to arrive, she waited in a fever of impatience then silently urged those getting off to move their ass, before shooting inside once it was empty. Praying it wouldn't stop at any floors but the one she'd requested, she pressed automatic dial for Clark's phone again, while stalking around the small space in the lift muttering under her breath for it to hurry.

Jumping out the second the doors opened, she dashed towards the windows at the end of the hallway and felt almost sick at hearing the window washer whistling along cheerfully to the radio.

He had no idea that the hoist holding the platform was weakening. Had no idea of what was to come and she couldn't even raise the alarm without arousing suspicion since nothing had happened yet. Wanting to cry when the tinny voice repeated that Clark's phone still wasn't in service, she bit her lip wondering what to do.

She couldn't just leave the man and hope things would work out because she knew they wouldn't. She had to do something for him and for all those below who were going to be killed when the platform eventually broke and fell, and if that something got her throw in prison then screw it; she'd go to prison.

Thanking god the building was old, she waved to catch the man's attention and reached for the latch of the window unclear of what she was going to say to get him inside and felt her stomach lurch when the hoist gave enough to tip the scaffold slightly, causing the man to look at her in horror.

Pushing open the window, Lois swiftly threw out her hand "Sir, grab onto me."

The squeegee fell to the ground below as the man tried to reach out to her with one hand, while frantically attempting to unbuckle himself from the harness clasped to the cage with the other, when the hoist dropped a good foot causing him to gasp and clutch onto his chest.

Leaning out as far as possible, she held out both hands and pleaded "Sir, please grab onto me."

The man tried to do as asked but the excruciating pain in his chest caused by the fright of what was happening was too much. When the scaffold dropped once again, he gasped and crumbling to a heap on the bottom of the cage, lay there unmoving.

Panting heavily in fright, she squeezed her eyes shut tight and giving herself a hard mental shake, opened them to assess the situation.

It was useless. The platform had fallen too far down for her to reach him and there was no way she could pull him inside without his help, and he clearly wasn't in any condition to offer it. The grey cast to his face, the gasping wheeze coming from his mouth and the way he was clutching onto his heart told her all that she needed to know.

Pulling herself back inside, she once again tried Clark's cell-phone and once again hearing the 'not in service' message, screamed _"HELP!" _

Hoping someone would hear, she yelled again and raced to the glass doors separating the lift area to the offices, intending to run inside and raise the alarm only to stop short when the doors refused to open. Seeing the security swipe key lock, she cursed loudly and looking through the glass door saw what looked to be an ocean of open space, a stair case connecting floors to each other, an unmanned reception desk and yet another glass door which presumably led to where the staff worked. Banging on the glass, she yelled a third time before racing back to the window and sticking her head outside.

"Sir….sir, I'm calling for help." Seeing his eyes open a slit, she held up her phone and reassured "I'm calling 911 ok."

"_Please help me."_

Staring at him nonplussed when his voice resonated loudly through her mind, she gasped and pressed trembling lips together. Trying to reassure herself that she wasn't losing it, that this situation was unusual because she'd had the vision while still feeling shaky herself but afraid that it was going to be her undoing, she called out scratchily "I am; I'm calling…."

"_P…p…please."_

Wishing that she could walk away, just ignore his pleas and his predicament but knowing that she couldn't and live with herself, she turned and screamed as loud as she could but seeing no movement coming from behind the glass doors, slung her purse sideways across her body and climbed onto the window sill. Trying to ignore the pounding of her heart and the voice yelling in her head that she was the biggest moron that ever lived, she took a deep breath and leapt as carefully as possible onto the swing platform.

Swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat when it dropped several inches due to her added weight, she clutched tight to the bars of the cage with one hand and pulled out her phone with the other.

Almost crying in relief at hearing an actual voice on the other end, she gave the details to the emergency operator before pulling out a purse back of facial towelettes from her bag and wiping them softly over the man's face, smiled when he opened dazed eyes to hers "Helps coming; they'll be here soon."

"Th….th…ank….you."

Feeling stupidly relieved that this time she'd heard him speak out loud, she nodded faintly "What's your name?"

"Angelo."

"Hi Angelo; I'm Lois."

Closing her eyes in gratitude at the masculine voice from above, she patted his hand in comfort and looked up.

oOo

Holding up a hand for silence, Mr Nigel Bruce, the CFO of Financial Services looked around the conference room with a frown. "Did anyone hear that?"

Seeing nothing but bewildered looks at his question, he frowned deeper but not hearing anything further, shrugged "Carry on."

A couple of minutes later, Lois' last frantic scream echoed faintly through the room, causing almost every head to turn at the sound.

Swiftly pushing back their seats, the gathering ran down the hallway to the lobby, keyed past the glass doors to the lifts and seeing the open window, raced towards it then came to a stop at Mr Bruce's call. Stepping forward to assess the situation, Nigel felt his stomach lurch at what was clearly a potential tragedy in progress. Reminding himself that panic spread, he cleared his throat softly and striving to maintain as much calm as possible, called out quietly "Miss, are you ok?"

Looking up, Lois shook her head and answered in a voice that shook "No, please you have to help. This man's having a heart attack and this thing is….it's breaking so….." Eyes wide with fear, she swallowed the scream that wanted to rip out of her throat when the platform jerked "Please help."

Nodding, Mr Bruce whipped out his phone.

"I've already phoned emergency services." She called out tremblingly.

"I'm just calling building security. I'm going to step away from the window for a minute, will you be ok?"

At her nod, Nigel pressed the button for security and at the voice on the other end, spoke quickly and clearly "This is Mr Bruce, the CFO. There's a situation on the twenty-fifth floor. The hoist for the window washer's platform is breaking and the man is having a heart attack. There's a woman in the cage with him who's already called emergency services, so what I need you to do is gather as many staff as you need in the next 3 minutes from floor one and then lock down the lifts to ensure emergency services can get up here without delay and to prevent spectators trying to come up. Use the staff from level one to help clear away the crowd from the street until the police arrive. I had a quick look a minute ago and they're gathering fast. If this thing falls there'll be a lot more casualties than the two on the platform." At the acknowledgement, he hung up then swiftly rung the CEO to succinctly explain the situation to him before looking at the staff standing in front of him.

He could see fear in some eyes and curiosity overlaid with panic in others. Once more reminding himself that being in charge meant it was up to him to set the tone, he swiftly held up one hand before anyone could speak and outlined the situation in as calm a manner as possible under the circumstances.

Once done he looked back out the window at Lois and smiled as best he could manage "I'm still here. I know it probably feels like I've been gone for a long time but I promise it was for less than two minutes. I just had to tell building security what was going on."

Swallowing down the rising lump of hysteria she could feel building inside, Lois shakily told him "I think I can hear sirens."

"I can too." Looking out towards the street, he searched and let out a small silent sigh "I can see them. They'll be here any minute now." Noting the relief on her face, he stretched his lips into a smile or reassurance "Can I ask your names?"

"I'm Lois and this is Angelo." She replied pointing to her companion.

"Lois, I'm Nigel; how's Angelo holding up?"

"Not good; his face is pasty white and his breathing is erratic. I'm not even sure if he's aware of what's going on anymore. He needs…." Her voice trailed off in a scream as the platform plunged down several feet before coming to a stop in a slight tilt. Pressing herself into the corner of the cage, Lois dug her fingers into the material of Angelo's shirt to keep hold of him and stared fixedly at his face.

She hadn't helped anyone, she hadn't helped at all. In fact she'd only made things worse. She was going to die. Angelo was going to die. People down below were going to die.

Her phone was gone so she couldn't call Clark again, not that it mattered since he must have turned his off for the conference but it would have been nice to call their answer machine and hear his voice again. Trying not to laugh in hysteria at the knowledge that soon she and Angelo would be on the ground in a million little pieces just like her phone, she sucked in a jittery breath then let out a sob of relief at seeing first one fire truck then a second pull up outside the building, followed by both police and ambulance.

Swiping a hand down his face to wipe away the fear of sweat at what he'd just witnessed, Mr Bruce turned when the lifts opened to disperse several firemen and silently thanking god the professionals were here at last, stepped forward to inform the fire chief of the latest development.

oOo

_Fortress of Solitude - approx: 9.30am_

Clark listened silently as Joe-el droned on and reminded himself that he really was fond of the old windbag. The problem was that Jor-el loved to talk and he never seemed to run out of words; anyone would think he was lonely. Wondering if he should introduce his wife to the old man, he laughed inwardly while pondering which of them would run out of conversation first.

"And Kal-el you must…."

"Jor-el…" He called out apologetically.

"Yes my son."

"I have to go."

"Go."

"Yeah, I'm doing a press conference …."

"What is a press conference?"

"It's a um…." He scratched his head thinking of the simplest terms to explain it "Well it's a thing where I reveal to the world that I'm the mysterious stranger who's been helping the Justice League for years."

"I trust you are not taking on this task for glory my son." Jor-el asked reprovingly.

Snorting loudly at that, he muttered under his breath "What glory? I'll be lucky if some whinger doesn't crack the shits one day when I don't save them fast enough for their liking."

"What did you say Kal-el?"

"I said no father; I'm not doing this for glory." He answered loudly "Unfortunately, press conferences can sometimes be a necessary evil and…."

"Evil?"

Trust him to latch onto that word, Clark groaned silently but called out helpfully "It's just an expression Jor-el; it's not really evil."

"Then why do you not use another expression?"

"Because it fits." He mumbled discomfited and before another question could be asked, rushed on "It's just an earthly expression that means doing something you don't really want to but know you have to for a good reason; like going to the dentist for example."

"I understand Kal-el; in the past there were many times when I wished to yell at you, especially when you were such a naughty boy but being a machine, I simply had to be tolerant with your foibles."

"A naughty boy; tolerant…." He repeated with a huge smile "Ok, now that's not how I remember it. I was snotty and rebellious while you were far from tolerant. C'mon Jor-el, you have to admit you used the iron fist in the iron glove method of trying to knock some sense into me, and it wasn't the most productive approach to take with a teenager."

"A father knows best."

Bursting out laughing at the pious remark, he shook his head "It really is a miracle we both survived my teenage years."

"I would have survived because I am a machine; being flesh and blood, you would not." Jor-el returned seriously.

"I was joking." Clark called out helpfully.

"I was not."

Chuckling again, he threw up his hands in defeat "Ok you win this round but only because I have to get going."

"Of course, you must go and do the necessary evil, before venturing forth into the world to shed light upon their darkness?"

Why must he talk like that, Clark groaned wordlessly and hefting out a deep breath, explained "I don't have to do it but I think it will give me some control about what's said about me right from the start."

"And if you do not do it, the world will say unkind things about my son? My son who is there to help them! My son who is willing to put his own life…."

"Calm down Jor-el, no one's going to say unkind things about me." He called out soothingly "The world knows I've been helping for years but this will be the first time they'll actually see me. So I thought if I did a press conference explaining where I'm from and told them all about Krypton, they won't be afraid when they discover how different I am from them."

"That is very wise my son."

"Thanks."

"You will tell them about our world?"

"Yes, I don't want it to be forgotten and I want the people of earth to know that despite being unable to save your own planet, you and my mother sent me here to help theirs."

"Krypton will be remembered."

"Yes."

"Thank you Kal-el."

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded silently.

"Kal-el?"

"I'm still here father."

"You learnt all that I had to teach you many years ago but I could not teach you about humanity; this I failed you in. I am sorry my son."

"You didn't fail me Jor-el." He disabused swiftly "You and my mother sent me to the Kent's, because you knew they'd raise me with the same principles that you would have, if you'd had the chance."

"Yes; I am pleased you had them."

"You didn't always feel that way."

"No, there was a time when I questioned whether your mother was right."

"My mother; you mean Lara?"

"Yes, she wanted to save you as much as I did but she was not happy I chose Earth, because it is such a primitive planet."

"It's not that primitive." He smiled lightly.

"Compared to Krypton it is very much so but I knew you needed that advantage to survive. However, Lara was troubled. She knew you would be different to humans and did not want you to grow up feeling isolated and alone."

"Did you worry?"

"Yes but I too did not want you to suffer our fate, so I had to be strong for both of us."

"I wish that I'd known her."

"She was a brave woman."

"I think you both were." He remarked softly.

"Sending you away was not brave Kal-el; it was simply a necessary evil to ensure you had the chance of living a full life."

Smiling crookedly at his father's usage of the expression, he nevertheless stood his stance "Well I think that sending your infant son to a far distant planet to ensure he lived, is not only courageous it's one of the most unselfish things a parent could do for their child."

"My hope is that you will never be faced with such a situation Kal-el but if it were to happen, I believe that you would be just as determined to save your child at any cost."

Shuddering at the possibility of such an event coming to pass, he shook his head to dispel the images then bobbed it in agreement of Jor-el's words.

"Go now my son and always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage Kal-el."

"I will father." As the room dimmed, he turned and flew out of the fortress.

Pausing for a beat, he frowned and looked in all directions. Nothing was different, the frozen tundra looked just as still and silent as it always had, yet the uneasiness that he'd managed to ignore while talking with Jor-el, now seemed more pronounced when his attention wasn't being divided. Shaking off the agitation that wanted to cling like a blanket, he continued towards Metropolis convinced the unease he felt was due to his coming ordeal with the media.

oOo

_Watchtower - approx: 9.50am_

Drumming his fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair, Bruce looked at the clock then at Oliver "What time did Clark say he'd be here?"

"9.45."

"He's late."

"Give him a break Bruce, the man just got back from his honeymoon after all." Oliver rolled his eyes "He's probably at home doing you know what and will get here when he's done."

"Actually, Lois and I did you know what, a couple of times this morning and intend to do it again tonight but for now I'm here, while she's out there spending money at the shops." Clark announced stepping into the room.

"About time you got here."

Sending Bruce a dry look, he chaffed affectionately "anal bastard" and took the one fingered salute in return with a smirk.

"You're going to announce to the world that you're the Blur on national television, and your wife's out shopping." AC laughed surprised.

"Well first she's going to look at wedding photos and then she's going shopping…." He corrected solemnly "Lois was going to stay at home to watch the conference but when Jimmy called to let her know the proofs of our photos were ready and he was going to be in Metropolis today, she couldn't wait to see them so decided to meet him there." Clark lifted his eyes heavenward "She had intended to drive like a mad woman to Metropolis and back but I made her promise not to, and then she said it was actually a good thing that she won't be at home to watch it."

"Why?" Bart asked curiously.

"Well despite Jor-el's reassurance that no one will recognise me..." When their mouths opened, he held up one hand to stay any comments "Don't ask me; all I know is that he used some Kryptonian thingamabob on the suit and it supposedly solved the problem."

"But we can tell it's you." Oliver frowned confused.

"Yeah, but apparently those who don't already know it's me, will be hoodwinked when I'm in the suit." He shrugged uncaring "Anyway, Lois who's not yet used to Jor-el being annoyingly right 99 percent of the time, said it couldn't hurt to stack the deck in our favour, in case this is the 1 percent of the time that he's wrong."

"I like the way the woman thinks." Bruce murmured admiringly.

"I'm sure you do Bruce." Clark chuckled unsurprised.

"I don't get how her being in Metropolis, is stacking the deck in your favour." AC questioned blankly.

"Well our friends in Smallville aren't precisely shy and if they suspected it was me they were watching at the press conference, they wouldn't hesitate to drop round. However, not finding Lois there is bound to give them pause. After all, wouldn't any loving wife be faithfully sitting at home watching every minute of her husband on TV, especially when this is supposed to be a big whoopee for the Blur?" He asked rhetorically.

"They could think she's just not answering the door." Bruce remarked cynically.

"People don't just, not answer the door in Smallville Bruce. That kind of behaviour is considered terribly rude, so it's just not done." Clark advised patiently "Sure we have a few cantankerous souls who seem to hate every living thing but for the most part, neighbours feel free to drop round without invitation."

"In which case, they'd expect to find Lois at home." AC summed up in appreciation "She's pretty smart."

"Yeah she is." He agreed readily "Lois didn't plan it and admittedly it's not much of an advantage but it's better than nothing and it's miles better than the plan she did come up with, which actually stunk."

"What was that?"

"She tried to coax me into holding the press conference while we were on our honeymoon." He rolled his eyes sky high "Lo figured that no one would believe Clark Kent would leave his new bride high and dry just to announce to the world that he was the Blur, when he could do it at a time that was more convenient for him, so tried to get me to do it then to throw of suspicion. However, since I'm the first to believe that I'd never do anything so asinine, I put my foot down and said no way."

"Don't blame you." The men replied as one.

Taking a look at the clock, J'onn announced to the room in general "We must leave soon if we are to be on time." Turning to Clark, he asked solicitously "Are you ready my friend?"

"No." He moaned and simultaneously winced at the knowledge that soon pictures of him were going to be splashed all over and in every one of them he was going to be wearing the suit. Scowling, he asked without preamble "How bad do I look?"

"Hmmm, it's hard to tell…." Waving to a spot in the centre of the room, Bart advised straight faced "Walk over there and do a slow twirl. Then we can see the whole outfit and judge accordingly."

"Fuck off."

At his pithy response the men laughed and seeing the scowl on his face blacken, Oliver cleared his throat loudly "In all honesty Clark, you've never done anything for me but in the suit wow, you really make my heart flutter." At the two fingered sign he received in return, he threw out his arms expansively "You look just as good as the rest of us, happy."

Sweeping his eyes over his friends who were all garbed in their various guises, he nodded slowly "So it's worse than I thought?"

"Yep but for some reason the outfits seem to give people confidence in us." At the disbelief on his face, Oliver reassured truthfully "Don't ask me why, they just do."

"And women like us in them buddy; trust me." Bart tossed in cheerfully.

"So there's your silver lining if you're looking for one." Victor rounded out with a half-smile.

"Well I don't know if Lois likes me in this or not. She says yes but seems to great pleasure in tearing it off me." He remarked thoughtfully, causing the men to chuckle in appreciation. Recalling his wife's antics only a few hours ago, his eyes glowed with delight "In fact, we were wrestling around on the bed earlier and while feeling me up, she meowed."

"She meowed." Bart grinned fascinated.

"Oh yeah.…" Leaning forward he confided "And do you want to know what the hottest, most seductive part of it was?" At their eager looks, he whispered secretively "I didn't have to hide who I am from her and I'll never have to in future. Isn't that the best news ever?"

Knowing that was his way of reminding them they did have to hide their super-persona from any woman they dated, the men gestured rudely in return.

Letting out a guffaw of laughter, Clark opened his mouth to rub it in further but the anxiety he'd managed to push aside became a warning tone he could no longer ignore. Speeding over to the bank of monitors, he switched one on and began to flick through the stations.

Concerned, the men looked at each other and made their way to where he was standing.

"What's going on?" Oliver asked curiously.

"I don't know; something's not right but I can't tell you how I know that." Unwilling to waste time explaining further, he pointed "Can someone turn those monitors on and start checking the news stations and I mean all of them; the local, national and overseas. See if there's a disaster being reported that needs our assistance."

Knowing there were literally hundreds of news channels world-wide, but not willing to waste time debating how long it could take to find the cause of their friend's distress or if it was even being reported as yet, Bruce and Victor grabbed a remote each and began to flick through the stations, while Oliver and Bart raced over to the computers and switched them.

"What is it you sense my friend?" J'onn asked disturbed at the turmoil he could feel radiating from Clark.

"It's not a sense J'onn, I know something's wrong." Rubbing one hand over his chest when his heart began to pound furiously in agitation, he shook his head "Just keep looking."

"Clark you've got both super-speed and super-hearing, so while we look through the stations maybe you could fly….."

At AC's words, he swung around and demanded aghast "What did you say?"

Alarmed at the look on his face, the men stepped towards him while AC repeated tentatively "I said you've got super-speed and super-hearing…"

Recoiling as if struck, his face leeched of colour "Oh fuck!"

"Clark."

Holding up a hand for silence, he titled his head in concentration and as comprehension dawned, turned and zoomed of without further word.

Seeing the empty spot where he'd been standing a second before, the men looked at each other and began flipping through the stations with ever more urgency.

"Oliver, the press conference is scheduled to begin in less than 30 minutes." J'onn advised softly.

Swearing under his breath, he nodded shortly "Ok look, there's no point in us going to Metropolis to meet the press because this whole thing is being held for Clark and he's not here. So our best bet is to do a tele-conference from the watchtower and just stall until he gets back. Hopefully he'll save whoever he has to quickly…"

"I've found it." At Victors call, all eyes turned to the screen and faces simultaneously paled "That is Lois, isn't it?"

"Yes." Oliver confirmed numbly before turning to Bruce "We're going to have to cancel. There's no way Clark's going to leave Lois afterwards to attend….Shit!" Breaking off, he shook his head "We're going to have to come up with a reason why he's not available and all I can think of doing right now is hoping he's fast enough to save his wife."

"He is fast." Bart reassured quietly.

"Yeah he is but we're in space thousands of miles above earth, and she's down there on earth and he just left a minute ago." AC rubbed one hand over the back his neck in agitation.

"Oliver I'm panning our camera over the crowd and I'm only seeing one news van there, which means that word hasn't even spread about what's going on. But pretty soon we're going to have a room full of reporters waiting for us at city hall, so we need to get ourselves in gear and…." Bruce trailed off horrified when the platform holding Lois broke free and plunged towards the ground.

oOo

_Jimmy's Hotel Room - approx: 9.50am_

Stepping inside the room, Jimmy tugged off his tie and exhaled heavily in disappointment.

The last time he'd worked at the Planet, Tess Mercer had been editor and although he hadn't particularly liked her, she was a known quantity. Perry White by comparison was largely unknown. The only knowledge he'd had of the man was what he'd heard through rumour and before today, he hadn't put much stock in them. Now he knew they weren't only true but an understatement.

When he'd first walked into the editor's office, Perry had been congenial and friendly but 10 minutes later, he realised the thunderous personality the man was legendary for was spot on, when he broke off the interview to yell at one of his reporters. He'd begun by stripping the hide of the man for the interruption and then for handing in a story he condemned as being sub-standard after giving it a quick read. The poor sap had turned tail and run and he'd felt like joining him when Perry turned back to him with a ferocious scowl and mutters of incompetence, before continuing the interview as if nothing had happened. But for all of that, Jimmy had to admit he liked the man. He didn't know why; just one of those odd twists of affections a person sometimes feels towards another without explanation.

Unfortunately, he wasn't going to get the chance of being terrified by Perry on a daily basis and although some people might be glad of that, he'd happily put up with being yelled at for the opportunity of working at the Planet again and perfecting his skills as a photojournalist.

Regrettably, over the last few years portrait and wedding photography had been his bread and butter, while photojournalism had been relegated to a hobby he did in his free time to keep his hand in. As a result, his portfolio had been a little thin of the kind of snaps the editor of a newspaper wanted to see.

Still Perry had been nice, well ok he'd been gruff when he looked through his portfolio and said that his work wouldn't cut the mustard for the Daily Planet, but he had been nice enough to give it to him straight.

Feeling disheartened, Jimmy pulled out his phone with the intention of calling his wife hoping for a little commiseration but at the 'not in service' message, hung up. Right now Kara was either shooting a scene, waiting to shoot one or memorising her lines for the next scene between takes. He could leave a message at the studio for her to call but unless it was an emergency, she wasn't available.

Feeling sorry for himself didn't qualify.

Staring at the Daily Planet globe from the window of his room, he waved feebly in farewell.

Ah well, he'd tried. It looked like he and Kara were going to live in Chicago. Well for now at least he was in Metropolis, so he was going to make the most of it.

Swiftly changing out of the suit into a pair of jeans and casual shirt, he retrieved one camera and hung it around his neck, then slung a bag containing a back-up camera and all the necessary equipment a photographer needs sideways over his chest, before heading out the door.

Stepping outside the hotel, Jimmy turned in the opposite direction of the Planet with the intention of grabbing a sandwich, and strolling around the city snapping photos of anything that caught his fancy. Seeing a gathering of people and the road cordoned off two blocks later, he jogged over to find out what the commotion was about and looking up, his eyes widened.

Pushing through the crowd, he stationed himself in the most optimal position he could find and digging out the correct telephoto lens from his bag, swiftly fitted it to the camera hanging round his neck and focused the lens.

Pushing through the crowd, he stationed himself in the most optimal position he could find and digging out the telephoto lens from his bag, swiftly fitted it to the camera hanging round his neck and focused the lens.

Gulping hard at seeing the person in trouble was Lois, he reached for his phone but the screams of dismay, followed by the gasps of astonishment and cries of exhilaration happened so rapidly, he only had time to lift the camera back up, hastily frame the shot and begin shooting.

oOo

_Daily Planet - approx: 9.50am _

Checking the time on her computer, Chloe Sullivan tapped her fingers on her desk nervously while waiting for her cousin to arrive. There was still a little more than 30 minutes before the conference began so Lois wasn't late, she was just antsy and couldn't concentrate on work.

All that occupied her mind was Clark's big moment. She wasn't concerned that he wouldn't be able to answer any questions thrown at him, nor that he wouldn't hold his own against a bunch of salivating media dogs, it was a combination of things that made her feel edgy. The rudeness of some reporters, her friend's temperament when provoked to anger but mostly, just the fact that today had been a long time coming.

Looking over her shoulder at the banks of TV screens, she was unsurprised at seeing a crowd of Planet staff had already gathered and silently urged Lois to hurry up.

From the time the JLA made the announcement that the Blur was going to join them officially, and had invited members of the press to meet him in person, with the added opportunity of asking any questions they wished after he made a statement, the media had been in a frenzy.

It had been a tactically smart move.

By making the gesture, Clark and the JLA by extension, were in a position of authority.

TV stations, radio stations, print and electronic media were all eager to hear what the Blur had to say and were almost drooling at the opportunity to question him. All wanted to be the one to get the information out there first.

If Clark hadn't created an alter ego, his joining the JLA wouldn't have caused such a stir. Sure, the first time he appeared as Kal-el it would have been remarked upon and created some buzz as every new superhero on the scene did. But it was his elusiveness over the past 12 years as the mysterious Blur that was the cause of all the hullaballoo now.

Taking another look at the growing number of work colleagues stationed around the monitors, and figuring it would be in her best interests to try and shuffle into a good spot now, Chloe got herself a cup of coffee and made her way over to the group. Murmuring apologetically, she squeezed through the gathering and once established in the best vantage point, settled down to wait while periodically looking towards the lifts hoping to see her cousin.

"_Do you think they'll save her in time?"_

"_I don't know. They lifted the man out a few minutes ago but the platforms pretty unstable. If they don't have a rope long enough on hand to get her out now, then it's anyone's guess whether they'll have time to get another one before it falls."_

Hearing the conversation going on behind but not paying attention, she focused her gaze on the TV the conference was to be played on and stood up straight when the screen flashed over to the media room. Cocking her head she tried to hear what the reporter on screen was saying and although certain he was just giving the usual spiel about the JLA but still wanting to hear it; she narrowed her eyes then rolled them in irritation when those in back continued talking.

Refraining from turning around and telling her colleagues to shut up, Chloe frowned at the screen intently as the reporter continued talking. She could only hear a word here or there and knew he was talking about Clark since she heard the word Blur. However, she could only assume the man was excited about seeing the Blur for the first time and getting the chance to ask him some questions, but couldn't say for sure because she couldn't hear him properly because the damn people behind her wouldn't shut up!

"_The poor woman looks frightened to death."_

"_Who wouldn't be?"_

Unable to take it any longer, she spun around and remarked crisply "Do you mind keeping it down? Some of us are trying to hear what they're saying about the Blur." Swinging back, she focused on the screen again but still couldn't hear due to the chatter that continued going on.

"_Oh my god did you see that? It must have dropped at least a foot."_

"_It's not going to hold."_

"_And she knows it; she knows that she's going to die."_

"_I don't know if I can watch this."_

Holding onto her patience by her fingernails, Chloe turned and asked bluntly "What are you lot talking about?"

Focusing her eyes on the TV that Annette from Travel was pointing at, she felt the colour drain out of her face even as her heart jumped into her throat. Unaware the mug in her hand had fallen and smashed on the ground, causing those around to grumble as the shards of ceramic and lukewarm coffee splashed onto their legs, she reached out for purchase in something and grabbed onto the shirt of the colleague standing in front "That's my cousin."

Like a blanket, silence fell as every head swung in her direction.

"That woman's your cousin?"

At her nod, eyes met then swiftly looked away and feet shuffled uneasily as sympathy for Chloe, yet awkwardness of what to say began to mount.

"Lois just got back from her honeymoon two days ago. She's supposed to be living on cloud cuckoo land right now not…" Taking one deep breath after another, she licked her lips and asked quietly "What have they said so far?"

Swiftly filling her in on the few minutes of breaking news story she'd managed to catch, Annette dredged up a smile and ignoring the fact that a bare minute earlier she'd told Charlie from Sports that Lois knew she was going to die, put one arm around Chloe's shoulders and pronounced confidently "They'll save her in time, you'll see."

Nodding abruptly, she pulled out her cell-phone and pressed the button for Clark's but at the message he was unavailable, closed her eyes and began to pray. Hearing the petrified gasps from all those around, her eyes flew open and saw the scaffold hurtle towards the ground.

"Did they get her out?"

oOo

Zooming towards Metropolis as fast as he could, Clark felt his heart bobble in his chest as the sound of Lois' heartbeat began to hammer even faster in his ears than it had a bare second earlier.

He didn't know what trouble she was in, didn't know if it was fear or adrenaline that was causing her heart to thunder so rapidly but he did know that he wasn't going to waste any more time second guessing his instincts. He'd wasted enough time already blaming the disquiet he'd been feeling on his distaste at wearing the suit in public and cursed himself for being so focused on something so insignificant, he'd ignored everything else.

Feeling an increasing sense of urgency and praying that he was just over reacting, he flew fast and faster; pushing and straining his body against the confines the laws of gravity was placing on it.

He had to get there, he had to.

As he neared the city his vision zoomed in. He saw the crowds scattering like ants, heard their screams and saw Lois curled up on the floor of the swing platform as it lunged toward the ground at breakneck speed.

He knew that his acceleration was giving him the illusion of events having stopped but they hadn't. This was all happening in real time and it was happening right now.

Pushing himself to the limit, he bore down trying for greater speed until finally in desperation, he launched his body like a missile and grabbed onto the platform with such might, it began to buckle under the stress. Pausing in relief, Clark loosened his hold slightly and taking his time, slowly began to float upwards in an attempt not to jar or jostle his wife any further. Setting the platform down gently on the roof of the building, he peered into the cage apprehensively "Baby."

He reached down, Lois flung herself up and locked arms and legs tight around him "I was so scared."

Holding her just as tightly, he felt her heart crashing against his, felt each tremor and quake but wasn't sure if it was from him or her "I know sweetheart but you're ok; you're ok."

Closing his eyes, Clark pressed his cheek to hers and swore under his breath at the sound of feet thundering up the stairs. Looking over his shoulder he x-rayed through the walls before easing her back minutely "Both the fire and ambulance personnel are running up the internal stairs Lo, they'll be here any minute."

"Clark if I go downstairs with them, the TV crews will likely shove cameras in my face and I don't want to deal with them." Swiping one hand over her cheeks, she sniffed hard "Please, just take me home."

Cupping her face, he pressed a kiss to her brow "I'll deal with it babe; I'll tell them I'm flying you back to your husband to avoid the media. Do you need to see a doctor?"

"No, I've got some bruises but they don't need to be treated by a doctor. I just…." She held one hand against her heart and tried to breathe slowly "All those moments I had, it was this. You were right and I should have listened but…."

"All those moments you had were a vision?" He cut in grimly.

"Yes."

Wanting to get into it now but knowing this wasn't the time or place for many reasons, one of which was that Lois had warned when the fright and adrenaline of a vision wore off, she tended to crash and burn, he resolved to get her home as soon as possible.

"We'll talk about it later ok."

"Ok."

Fighting off the urge to just fly away with her, he set his wife down on her feet but kept one hand on her shoulder for support and turned as the roof door flew open, dispersing a throng of people.

Striding forward, Fire Chief Alex King eyed Clark with a mixture of both awe and suspicion before turning to Lois "Ma'am, are you ok?"

Nodding, she smiled tremblingly at all those present "Thank you for trying to save me."

"It wasn't us ma'am, it's him that you need to thank." Alex pointed at Clark.

"I know he's the one who ultimately saved me and I have thanked him, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten that all of you tried." She replied softly "You did your best and it matters more than I can say."

"Thank you ma'am…"

Hating being called ma'am, she broke in "Lois; Lois Lane-Kent."

"Ms Kent…."

"No sorry, it's Mrs Lane-Kent." She corrected automatically.

"Sorry, Mrs Lane-Kent…."

"But you can call me Lois." She interrupted once again.

Alex didn't know whether to laugh or swear and hearing the chuckles behind him, spoke quickly hoping she wouldn't interrupt again "Lois, with the way you got thrown around while that platform was swinging, the medical staff would like to check you out just to ensure that you're ok; would you mind?"

"I'm fine truly; other than acquiring a few bruises and getting the fright of my life, I'm ok."

"It's not the bruises we're worried about Lois; it's your head and neck. You were thrown about quite violently whenever the hoist jostled, so just as a precaution we'd like to have you checked out."

Figuring it was easier to submit then wasting time putting up a fight, she allowed the medical personnel to lead her into the shade for treatment, leaving Clark, Alex and his second in command Leon Kieu standing alone.

"She's right; all of you helped and deserve to be thanked for it." Clark endorsed steadily.

"Can I ask who you are sir?"

"Have either of you ever heard of the Blur or the Mysterious Stranger?"

"You're him?" Alex asked astonished. At the nod, his brow cocked up "Aren't you supposed to be heading to press conference right about now?"

"I was on my way there when I heard the screams, but this seemed more important somehow." Clark replied so dryly the two men chuckled in agreement.

Grinning in approval, Alex held out a hand and smiled wider when it was given a firm shake "Thanks for the assistance."

"I was happy to do it." Pausing for a beat, he asked quickly "Sorry, I was so focused on catching the platform before it fell, that I never thought to check if anyone else was hurt."

"A man by the name of Angelo; he was washing the building's windows but we managed to get him to safety before the hoist broke."

His head tilted enquiringly "So he was on the scaffold initially?"

"Yes, according to a Mr Nigel Bruce who was helping us to keep Mrs Lane-Kent calm by talking to her, she climbed onto the platform to help the window washer when he had a stroke, which was brought on by the fright of the structure breaking." Leon answered for both of them.

"She climbed on?" He asked with false calm.

"Yes, whether that was dumb or heroic I don't know but if she hadn't, we wouldn't have been able to get him out since the structure was too unstable for anyone to climb on to help him." Alex swiped one hand down his face "Mrs Lane-Kent had to hook him up for us to lift him clear but we couldn't get to her in time."

Taking a deep breath, Clark nodded shortly "Is he ok?"

"We don't know sir; after he was safe we turned our attention to Mrs Lane-Kent, while the medical crews worked on him. He was taken to the hospital, so we can only hope he made it."

Clark nodded once again and seeing one of the ambulance personnel coming towards them, looked over at Lois and frowned in concern at how pale she'd become in just a couple of minutes. Holding himself back from going to her, he turned his attention to the woman approaching but moved minimally to keep his wife in his line of vision.

Stopping beside the group, Karen Doyle surreptitiously gave Clark a good once over and felt her pulse speed up in appreciation at the gorgeous specimen standing there. At the pointed clearing of throats, she gave herself a good hard shake and smiled embarrassed "Sorry, my mind drifted for a moment. Well other than a few bruises Lois…Mrs Lane-Kent is fine. Her pupils are reacting normally and although she's very pale, she has just endured a terrible fright so it's not surprising."

"Do you think she needs to go to the hospital?" Alex asked directly.

"No, I don't think she's suffering from a concussion but I did stress to her that I'm not a doctor. So advised her to go and see one immediately if she feels the slightest bit unwell, or suffers any of the usual signs of a concussion." Taking a breath, she addressed Alex "Since we don't seem to be needed here any longer, we're going to take off unless you want us to stick around."

"No we're good; thanks Karen."

She nodded absently, glanced at Clark again and held out one hand "It was nice meeting you. Well I didn't really get the chance to meet you but hopefully next time, if there is a next time…well I don't really hope there is a next time because I don't want anyone to get hurt but if they do and you're around, hopefully we'll meet properly." Cursing her stupid tongue, she smiled flirtatiously "Bye."

Giving her hand a little shake, Clark smiled cordially in reply "Bye."

Turning to leave, she stopped and swung round to Alex "Sorry, um Lois would like a quick word with you."

Wondering what was going on, he nevertheless made his way over and kneeling at her side, frowned at the ashen tone of her skin "Ma'am…."

Wanting to close her eyes and sleep but refusing to give into the tiredness sweeping over her in waves until she was safely alone with Clark, Lois pushed up to her feet and kept one hand on the wall at her back for balance "Um, before all of you arrived on the roof, I asked Mr Blur if he'd fly me home to my husband to avoid facing the media downstairs and I was wondering if he mentioned it to you."

"Ma'am, if he really is the Blur and I've no reason to doubt his word then he's a superhero, not a taxi." Alex replied gently.

"I know but since I don't need an ambulance nor feel capable of driving just yet, is it ok if he does?"

"It's up to him but if he can't, I'll organise something so you don't have to worry about driving ok?"

"But I live…."

Turning, he called Clark and Leon over "Sir, Mrs Lane-Kent said that she asked you to fly her home."

"Yes, I can't blame her for wanting to avoid the media downstairs and she's worried about her husband so I'm happy to do it, unless you have a way of getting her out secretly." He replied looking between the men.

"Ma'am, your husband could be downstairs waiting for you." Leon advised Lois quietly "We've been up her for 7 or 8 minutes now and if he was watching the news, he'd know that you were safe so could have come down to join the crowd."

"No he couldn't." She shook her head wearily "I don't live in Metropolis, I live in Smallville which is a three hour drive from here. I managed to call him before my phone fell and broke and although I tried to tell him not to come because it's so far, he wouldn't listen." Pressing one hand to her head, she looked at each of the men before focusing on Clark "My husband won't know that I'm alright now because he's on the road somewhere but he won't be anywhere near Metropolis yet."

Understanding that she was giving him a reason for why no one would see him in Smallville should they go to the farm looking, he addressed the men "I can fly her home in less than 15 minutes and if she keeps a look out for her husband's car, we can catch up to him on the road."

"He has a truck and its cherry red, so I won't be hard to spot." She added weakly and hoped she could remain upright for just a few minutes longer.

Taking one step aside Alex gestured with his head "Look, I don't blame the lady for wanting to get away from the media circus waiting downstairs but…." His mouth curved mockingly "I suspect it's really you they're all waiting for."

Clark's face contorted in a grimace "In that case, I insist on flying her home."

At the snigger from his cohort, Alex turned "What'd you think now Leon?"

"I think that I was wrong…" Holding out one hand, Leon gave Clark's a hearty shake in apology "I didn't believe the Blur was real until today and when I heard about the press conference, I wrote it off as just another media whore coming out of the woodwork to get some attention for themselves; I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I didn't like the idea but after all the stories that have been written about me, I thought a live press conference would ensure that I wasn't misquoted." Gesturing to the personnel behind them busy with the scaffold cage and hoist, he frowned in concentration "I'll fly Mrs Lane-Kent from the other side of the roof where no one can see us."

"That's fine but since the media is going to want us to make a statement, what should we tell them?"

"Since I'm sure the JLA will make it clear why I wasn't at the press conference, everyone likely already knows that I'm the Blur so you don't have to worry about that. However, if anyone sees me flying off with Mrs Lane-Kent and makes a comment about it, I'd appreciate you making it clear just why I flew her home so no one gets the wrong impression."

The men rolled their eyes but nodded in understanding "We'll do our best but you know what people are like?" Leon asked rhetorically.

"Unfortunately I do." He rolled his eyes in turn and holding out his hand, shook both of theirs before returning to his wife "Are you ready ma'am."

"Yes." Scooping her up, he smiled at them once more before striding over to the far side of the roof and taking off.

oOo

Taking shot after shot after shot after shot to ensure he captured every single moment, Jimmy mentally crossed his fingers that he'd managed to frame them correctly in his haste and smiled hugely. His cousin in law had saved his wife and come out of the woodwork with a bang.

Cradling his camera like a newborn infant, he moved through the crowd and making his way to the closest available bench pulled out his phone and called the Daily Planet.

Requesting to speak to Perry White, he waited patiently and at the man's voice, smiled "Hello Mr White; it's Jimmy Olsen. I had an interview with you earlier for a photographer's job."

"Yes."

"Um, I don't know if you're aware of this but a woman was trapped on a scaffold that was about to fall a few blocks from the Planet building…."

"I'm aware and I'm also aware she's been rescued in some phenomenal way by a superhero no one's ever seen before." Perry cut in brusquely "Thanks for the information but..…"

"Did the Planet have a photographer down there?" He called out anxiously before the man could hang up.

"No; I've got one covering the press conference and another…." He paused to concentrate on the TV and hearing the Green Arrow's words, ground his teeth in fury "It was the Blur! Damn it all to hell and back it was the Blur who saved that woman and we missed it! The Daily Planet missed…."

"I think I managed to get a few good shots of him saving her Mr White."

At Jimmy's words, Perry's ears cocked up "You did."

"Uh huh…" Swiftly looking at the pictures he'd taken, Jimmy smiled pleased "Some of the photos are fuzzy because he arrived on the scene so fast, but after he caught the scaffold he paused for a good 5 seconds or so before floating up slowly. I caught the whole sequence Mr White; they're good."

"Get yourself back here son; you can use the Planet's resources to print them out." Perry replied generously "If I like what I see, I'll pay you for them."

"If you like what you see, you can have them for free." He returned just as generously and before his courage could fail him, proposed hurriedly "And maybe the next time you're looking for another photographer, you could possibly keep me in mind."

Expecting to be blasted for such impertinence, he closed one eye in a cringe then opened both wide at hearing the booming laugh coming down the line.

"I like determination and I like go getters." Perry grinned widely when his mirth calmed "Tell you what; if the photos come up to the Planet's standards, I'll give you a shot."

"Deal." Jimmy returned sunnily "I know where the photography section is, so I'll bring the shots to you as soon as I've finished printing them out."

"I'll tell the department head to expect you." Perry advised cheerfully before asking in a hopeful manner "You wouldn't also happen to have gotten a few words with the Blur would you?"

"No sir sorry but if it's any consolation I haven't seen him come down from the roof, so he hasn't talked to any reporters yet." Jimmy looked into the crowd and noting the anxious almost frustrated look on the TV crews faces, advised cheerfully "I can still only see one news van here Mr White but I don't see any other reporters, so you may still have time to send someone down to join the horde waiting to catch a word with the Blur when he's finished."

"I've already got someone heading that way; hopefully Carmichael will get there before the Blur flies down to meet the press." Perry crossed his fingers and sent up a quick prayer "In the meantime, let's get those pictures printed."

"I'm on my way sir." Clicking off, he shoved the phone into his pocket and after taking out his spare camera from the bag to hang around his neck, carefully packed away the one that could be the re-start of his career.

Mentally making a note to call the Kent's later to ask after Lois, Jimmy got to his feet and for the second time that day, headed towards the Daily Planet.

oOo

"Did they get her out?"

No one had time to answer Chloe's question before a stream of red, yellow and blue flashed past the screen heading directly towards the falling platform. Holding her breath for what seemed like forever, she let out a sob when Clark caught the dais in mid-air and stopped before slowly floating upwards.

"_My god, he just caught it like it weighed nothing."_

"_Does anyone know who that is?"_

"_He's amazing!"_

"_How strong do you think he is?"_

"_Do you think he's faster than the Flash?"_

"_No one's faster than the Flash."_

Laughing, crying Chloe heard the questions and exclamations pouring out from those around her and allowed Annette to pull her into a jubilant hug, while smiling widely at those who patted her back in solidarity.

"Hey look!"

Turning to the television screens, the Planet staff saw the conference room full of reporters cheering in front of a wide screen TV and began cheering along. A few seconds later the screen flashed over to JLA headquarters to show them sitting in a large room with relieved smiles. Grinning hugely, the Green Arrow announced genially "Ladies and gentlemen, I know the press conference was to be held at 10.30 and as such, many of you are just getting your equipment ready for it now. So firstly I apologise for interrupting your schedule but I can think of no better way to welcome this man into the JLA, than by acknowledging what he's just done."

As the questions began pouring out, Batman held up one hand for silence "Ladies and gentleman, we apologise for the inconvenience of having to cancel the conference but as you can see, it was for a good reason. We can't speak on behalf of our friend so for now, please be satisfied with knowing he's a good man who simply wishes to help the world. I daresay you'll all get to meet and interview him at some point, since I know how tenacious you can be."

At the burst of hearty laughter, he tilted his head lightly in farewell and the screen went dark before focusing on the reporter at the scene. Smiling at the camera, the lady lifted her brows expressively "Well going by all we've just witnessed, I think it's safe to say this new superhero has won a number of hearts today and made the kind of impression that people aren't going to forget in a hurry."

As some of the Planet staff began to move back to their desks, others stayed watching the screen hoping to see the Blur again and chatted amongst themselves, while Chloe took a seat at her desk, put her head on the top and simply closed her eyes in sheer relief.

oOo

Martha stared at the TV wide-eyed and continued absently patting the dog sitting in her lap.

If the JLA hadn't brought Lois' predicament to everyone's attention, it would have gone unnoticed by the vast majority in the country since local news, wasn't reported until after the fact. Even the people in Smallville wouldn't have known about it at the time but anyone who lived in town who'd tuned in to watch the press conference, would now be more concerned about the Kent's then a mysterious figure they didn't actually know.

None of it seemed real.

Only a little while ago, she'd sat down to listen to what the newscasters had to say about meeting the Blur for the first time and hearing them talk excitedly about the prospect of seeing her son had left her feeling proud and flustered. But when one of them tapped his ear and the screen flashed to show the JLA seated at a large table, she'd sat back confused.

The conference wasn't scheduled to being for almost half an hour and she could have sworn Clark had told her they intended to hold it live not via video feed. Not seeing her son sitting among them had further bewildered her, since she couldn't imagine him swanning onto the set like a beauty queen at a pageant but his lack of presence hadn't caused her to worry, until the Green Arrow announced solemnly "Ladies and gentlemen, I understand the conference was to be held at 10.30am. However, the footage I'm about to show you was taken less than five minutes ago. When it's over, we'll come back for a minute to simply make a statement before switching to live coverage so you can hear for yourselves, what has been taking place for the last hour in the heart of Metropolis."

Martha barely had time to take in the name of the city, much less become concerned before her screen was filled with an image of Lois that caused her to suck in shocked breath. That was when she understood why her son wasn't with the JLA and why they were still at the Watchtower. She tried reminding herself that Clark was fast, tried recalling all the times he'd saved friends and neighbours from impossible odds in the past but well aware that her son wasn't a god; she felt sick with fear.

Listening to the grave tone of the on air reporter as she explained that the platform could topple any moment, seeing the terror on her daughter-in-law's face, made her mouth go bone dry. It made no difference that what she was viewing had already taken place and she was simply seeing events after the fact, Martha began to pray. When the scaffold broke free of its moorings and fell towards the ground, she watched helplessly as the crowd began to scatter and let out a scream of joy when her son swooped in and caught it before it hit the ground.

Laughing, clapping, crying, she bounced in her chair and scooped up Attila when the dog jumped up beside her, barking enthusiastically at her antics. Hugging the animal tight, she smiled and pointed at the TV "You see that; that was your favourite person in the whole wide world being saved by my favourite person in the whole wide world."

Woofing at her voice, the dog licked her face. Grinning in return Martha listened to the rest of the program before switching of the TV and smacking a kiss on top of the animal's head remarked buoyantly "I thought old age was supposed to a quiet time in my life."

At the dog's yip, she chuckled softly "With those two around, I think I might as well wave my nice, peaceful life goodbye."

At the ringing of her cell phone, she picked it up and seeing Clark's name on the screen, quickly answered "Honey are…."

"Sorry mom, but I don't have time to talk right now." He cut in hastily "Can you please just put my truck in the barn and close the doors in case anyone comes looking for me. If they ask where I am, just tell them I saw the news and left for Metropolis ok?"

"Of course sweetie."

"Thanks, I'll call you when I get home."

Wanting to ask questions but knowing time was of the essence, she wasn't offended when he hung up. Snatching up the keys for his truck, she did as requested and returned to house to discover the phone was ringing.

Smiling at hearing Mavis Dixon's voice on the other end of the line, she chatted happily for a few minutes and after assuring the woman that she would indeed pass on hers and George's best to Clark and Lois, hung up.

Less than a minute later the phone rang again. She'd barley put it down before it ran again, then again, then again.

oOo

_Kent house – 30 minutes later_

Sitting in the lounge room with the phone pressed against his ear, Clark kept an eye on his wife while waiting for the line to be picked up "Hi mom, sorry I couldn't talk before…"

"I understood honey, its fine." Martha dismissed uncaring "Is Lois alright?"

"Yeah she's got a few bumps and bruises but otherwise she's ok. She's sleeping at the moment, she dropped off while I was flying her home." Pausing for a beat, he blew out a breath "And I'm sorry for not calling you back sooner but both the house phone and my cell phone's been ringing non-stop…." When his cell-phone buzzed, he rolled his eyes "And there it goes again."

"Your friends and neighbours just care honey. It would be terribly sad if no one called." She advised gently.

"I know and I appreciate it but I haven't had two minutes of peace yet."

"Neither have I." She laughed softly "But um…" Letting out a small uncomfortable cough, Martha confessed sheepishly "Melvin Banks was one of the people who called me a little bit ago. He tried to get through to you but couldn't, so he rang me instead and well…"

"What?"

She cleared her throat and told him apologetically "Well he asked if I knew how you and Lois were doing, and then we chatted for a little bit and well….I kind of have the feeling he might want to do a story on Lois for his paper honey."

"Well getting in quick is all part of the news game so I'm not altogether surprised." His lips twisted in a faint smile "Usually the Smallville Gazette only carries local news and although it's interesting to us, it's not earthshaking but since Lois was on the national news, I imagine she's a bit of a celebrity in town right now."

"I'd say so and I'm one by association with her."

"Has the lady's guild asked you to give a speech?" He teased gently.

"I'm not that much of a celebrity." She retorted primly "Anyway, I don't want to hold you up. I just wanted to ask how you both were."

"We're both fine."

"You can't fool me sweetie, I tell by the tone of your voice that you're not fine." She returned seriously.

Swiping one hand over his face, Clark sighed heavily "I'm a little wound up but that's all."

"Well it's not surprising given what happened but if you ever need to talk about it…" She trailed off meaningfully.

"I know who to call; thanks mom."

"That's what I'm here for."

"And I'm grateful." He returned quietly "I'll pick up the truck and Attila later ok?"

"Ok honey, see you then." Hanging up, Martha looked around the kitchen and at the woof from below, bent down to pat the dog "You know what I'm thinking boy? That it would be really nice if I made a special dinner for my son and daughter-in-law; what'd you think?"

The dog barked happily at her voice.

oOo

Hanging up the phone, Clark stepped into the kitchen intending to get a beer but at the ringing of his cell-phone, he heaved out a deep breath and dug it out of his pocket "Hello."

"Hey Clark, how's Lois doing and how are you?" Oliver asked directly and turning around, gave the 'ok' sign so the others knew he'd been able to get through at last.

"Hey Ollie; well other than acquiring an impressive number of bruises from being jostled about quite a lot, she's fine." Raking one hand through his hair, he continued tartly "In fact she's so fine that right now she's sleeping like a baby, while I'm suppressing the urge to check if my hair's gone completely white. I swear the woman's going to make me old before my time."

Smiling hugely at the mock grouching from his friend signifying all was well, he asked innocently "Still wish you were single?"

"Hell no..." Clark negated swiftly "I'm just wondering if there's a place anxious husbands can park their wives at, if their wives are as troublesome as mine."

"There is buddy; it's called the mall." Oliver grunted in amusement.

"True then all I have to worry about is how much money she's spends." He waited for a beat and tacked on "Oh hang on, with the way Lois spends money like a drunken sailor, I'll probably squeal like a little girl when I get the credit card bills, which is far less manly than turning grey from getting her out of trouble."

Oliver chuckled in appreciation "Listen, I don't want to hold you up but I do need to talk to you seriously for a few minutes. Do you have the time now or would you prefer we talk later?"

"When Lois wakes up, I won't be talking to anyone but her so now's fine." He replied frankly.

"Ok, well I don't know if you've managed to capture a replay of the broadcast on television yet?"

At the query in the tone, he shook his head "No, to be honest I haven't had the time to turn the TV on, or the inclination to watch a repeat of my wife's ordeal."

"Well I understand that but I'll fill you in really quickly so you know what went on, since it pertains to what I need to talk to you about." Taking the drink held out to him from Bart, Oliver nodded in thanks and after taking a sip continued "Ok, well since we all expected you to stay with Lois afterwards, we decided to cancel the press conference after making a statement alluding to the fact that it was the Blur who saved Lois. Bruce and I took care of that but we didn't answer any questions, nor raise the possibility of arranging another meeting with the media. So I just want to know your thoughts on the subject and how you'd like us to go forward from this point."

Blowing out a deep breath, he rubbed his brow "I never even thought of coming back for the press do and yet given that the Blur isn't supposed to know Lois, there's no reason why he wouldn't, so I appreciate all of you covering for me."

"We were happy to do it."

"I still appreciate it" He returned steadily "But as for arranging another one, forget about it Ollie. Everyone's seen me now and that's good enough."

"But the reason for it wasn't only so everyone could see you Clark; it was also to give you a chance to make a statement or two as your alter-ego, while giving the press a chance to ask some questions in return; remember?"

"I know but it seems pointless to hold another one now." He replied frustrated "Look can you just make a statement that it was definitely the Blur they saw today?"

"Sure, to be honest Bruce and I figured we were clear enough but there are a couple of newscasters debating the issue and are taking polls to see how many people agree." Oliver took a gulp of his drink and shook his head "Apparently because we never declared outright to the camera, hey everyone that was the Blur who saved the woman from being killed when the platform broke, they're accusing us of being ambiguous and deliberately playing with words. Personally, I'm willing to go on air and call everyone who had trouble understanding us a fuckwit, but AC said they might accuse me of being rude afterwards."

Bursting out laughing, he zipped to the fridge and grabbed a beer "What does Bruce say?"

"That he should go on the air and tell them the reason Batman doesn't like people, is because they're quite often embarrassingly stupid." Oliver replied straight faced.

Spitting out the liquid he'd just sipped, Clark swiped one arm over his mouth and howled. Calming down several minutes later, he proposed solemnly "Maybe J'onn should make the statement."

"You don't want to hear what J'onn said; he was worse than Bruce and I put together." Oliver advised sedately then grinned hugely when the Martian burbled loudly in protest "I'm kidding J'onn, so you can stop flashing your green face at me." Hearing the snort, he mumbled plaintively "Wish I could do that to show people I was upset. Anyway you don't have to worry; I'll go on air and play nice to appease both the press and the public but what about the questions they have for the Blur and stuff you wanted to say?"

"I'm not really in the mood to think it about any of that right now Ollie; maybe later ok?"

Understanding his friend had other priorities, he bobbed his head "Ok, um look Clark there's something else I need to tell you and it's not pleasant." Taking a deep breath, Oliver informed him regretfully "One reporter has put it out there that you never had any intention of coming out into the open today, and Lois' ordeal was a convenient excuse for you to preserve your anonymity by not meeting the press afterwards. How do you want us to respond?"

"Convenient; what my wife went through was convenient for me." Clark repeated savagely "Do people really think I'd leave Lois stuck up there for god knows how long, scared to fucking death and even let her fall, just to preserve my damn secret?"

Understanding his friend's anger but not wishing to rile it up further, Oliver replied peaceably "Look the guy's an asshole who's either trying to stir up trouble or get you out there to comment and give him a headline. It's unfortunate but people like him do exist and we have to deal with them diplomatically."

"Then say whatever you have to because if it's left up to me, I'm sure you have a good idea what I'll say." He retorted scathingly.

"I do and I don't blame you but I thought you should know."

"Yeah; thanks." Shoving one hand through his hair, he took a deep breath and smiled grimly "You know; I'm really looking forward to the day a reporter says that kind of shit to my face."

"Only the bad guys have the guts to say that shit to our face Clark." Oliver mocked lightly "By and large the public is on our side and in this case, they're definitely on yours so don't let it get to you. This is just one reporter but his snide remark needs to be addressed before it gets out of hand."

Rolling his neck and shoulders to ease the tension, Clark rubbed his eyes "Yeah."

"Ok, well I'm going to let you go but please tell Lois we're all glad she's alright."

"I will; thanks again Ollie and please tell the guys I said thanks too."

"Sure."

Tossing the phone on the table, Clark threw the empty beer can in the rubbish then lifted his eyes heavenward when the house phone rang. Picking it up he smiled at hearing Melvin Banks greeting, while silently resolving to let all future calls go to the machine.

oOo

_Approx: 11.30am_

Rubbing her cheek against Clark's shoulder, Lois opened her eyes and looked up to find his open and on hers "How long was I asleep?"

"A little over an hour" He replied softly brushing the hair of her cheek.

Lifting one hand to his face, she breathed out shakily "It feels good to be here with you again; I didn't think I would be."

His eyes darkened as a combination of feelings crashed over him at her words. Leaning forward he pressed his mouth to hers intending the kiss to be soft, gentle but the dark ache of need slammed through them both; lightning fast and white hot.

Muttering unintelligibly he knelt up and asked gutturally "Tell me the truth; do you feel well enough for this or do you need time?"

"I don't need time." Sitting up, she pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside negligently.

Taking her at her word, he swiftly dispensed with his clothes then the rest of hers before hooking his arms under her legs to slide her back down onto the bed and under him. However, the second he had her there, rushing was no longer an option.

Running her hands over his back, Lois traced her tongue up the column of his neck, bit playfully at his jaw and hooking one leg over his, felt herself thrum in anticipation.

Spearing his fingers into her hair, he locked their lips together for a hard deep kiss then pulled back minimally "I've changed my mind."

Feeling dazed by her need for him, she swiped out her tongue to capture his taste "About what?"

"We have all the time in the world…" His lips touched one corner of her mouth then the other "…and we're going to take it."

His lips pressed to hers in a fleeting caress. Then a second kiss that was a little bit harder, a little bit longer. A third kiss that had a touch more pressure and ended with his teeth catching her bottom lip to nibble gently. A fourth kiss and his tongue washed soothingly over her lip before lightly trailing over the seam of her mouth requesting entrance.

Wiggling in bliss at the sensation of his weight pressing her down into the mattress, while his mouth made love to hers, Lois sighed and raking her short nails up the line of his spine, purred deep in her throat when his back muscles flexed in response.

His hands glided over her, fondling each contour and valley as her hands in turn smoothed over his back in ever widening circles. The hair on his thighs rasped gently against the smoothness of hers. The plump globes of her breasts grazed against his chest causing both to gasp when her nipples skimmed over his. Hard masculine muscle and soft womanly curves entwined in a gratingly sensuous movement as they slowly rolled over the bed, while mouths held fast and tongues danced in a leisurely waltz.

Every scrape of skin against skin; every touch and kiss increased momentum. The faint scent of aftershave and perfume mingled in the air, in their nostrils causing all their scenes to be flooded with a richness of anticipation.

Needing a deep breath, Lois reluctantly pulled her lips from his and felt herself drift in a haze of bliss, when his mouth drifted lazily down the side of her throat in a series of soft butterfly kisses. Pausing at her breasts, he rubbed his cheek softly over one mound then bathed the tip with his tongue before closing his mouth around it to suck gently.

Shivering in reaction to the feeling of his whiskers grazing gently against the sensitive tissue of her breast then the warm moist tugging of his mouth, she clamped her fingers into his hair, pressing him against her.

Murmuring softly in return, Clark trailed his hand down the plane of her abdomen to the softness between her legs and as his fingertips swept back and forth over the heart of her entrance with ever increasing deliberation, his mouth moved to her other breast to shower it with the same attention as the first.

Pushing herself harder against his hand, she mewled in entreaty and let out a small cry of gratitude when he slipped one finger inside her entrance followed by another and began to lazily move them in and out. As his mouth played with her breasts, sipping, licking, cheek grazing ever so gently, his fingers played over the moist flesh of her sex bringing her to the edge again and again until she was pleading for release.

Shifting to lie in the cradle of her thighs, he pressed forward until his penis was buried deep inside her passage then stopped, ignoring the clamouring demands of his body for completion.

Pressing down harder to stop her squirming, he squeezed his eyes shut tight and whispered hoarsely "Don't move."

"Clark." She whispered imploringly.

"Don't; just don't." Leaning his forehead against hers, he opened his eyes and locked them onto hers.

Scorched by the blaze of his eyes staring fiercely into hers, Lois felt her tummy quiver in a delicious sort of trepidation and opened her mouth to speak but stopped when his thumb swept over them.

"I must have known you were going to be dangerous to me one day, and years ago I was smart enough to stay away." He murmured and brushed the hair from her face "This time I wasn't so clever."

Offended; knowing that term wasn't generally used as a compliment, her hackles rose "I'm not dangerous."

"Yes you are."

"You're the one who came after me." She shoved against his shoulders and bucked her hips trying to dislodge him "You're the one who pushed for more and…."

Grasping onto her hands to hold her captive, he settled more firmly on and inside her "You don't understand my heart."

Hearing the endearment that he'd only used once before, she felt a fluttering inside and sucking in shaky breath, asked in a voice that wobbled "Don't understand what?"

"You're the kind of woman who catches a man of guard Lois. I thought that I knew how I felt about you, I really did…." His words shuddered out fanning over her face while his eyes showed the storm raging inside him "….but I didn't; not until I almost lost you today."

She licked her lips uncertain of what to say and murmured "Loving you isn't easy for me either."

Freeing her hands, he gathered her close and buried his face in her hair. Wanting to hold still and feel the softness of her tissues quivering around his penis in a gentle pulse. Wanting to move; to thrust in and out of her soft moist passage and feel her tissues parting to allow him entrance then closing around him in loving embrace, Clark groaned and felt his eyes cross when her inner muscles began to clamp around his shaft then release it in a torturously delicious series of hugs. Unable to take it, he began to move; withdrawing almost to the tip before sliding back inside.

Slipping one arm around his back and the other over his shoulder, her hands caressed as much of him as they could reach, while her foot roved up and down the back of his calf. Mouths met and opened, tongues nuzzled and skimmed. Bellies rubbed and muscles tautened as splintering sparks of pleasure began to roll through him, through her as their bodies moved in a danced that was both exquisitely familiar and all consuming.

Sliding his hands down to her bottom, he cupped the globes and keeping their loins pressed together, began to rock, titillating her pubic bone with his in an excruciatingly slow sway.

Lois whimpered and clamped her teeth on to the side of his neck as the exquisite torture of his movements caused the glowing wave of ecstasy to grow and spread. Thrusts became stronger, more deliberate. Fingertips dug in as the flowing warmth of their climax continued to expand and when the unbearable pleasure of release came, arms wrapped tight and clung.

Keeping her locked in his arms, he turned them on their sides and while his hand smoothed up and down her back to her bottom in a repetitious pattern, his mind began to clear and his gut began to churn.

"Mmm." Pressing herself closer, Lois cuddled in and hummed dreamily in contentment.

"Explain the visions to me again."

Wondering if it was her imagination or if his request had a confrontational edge to it, her brow wrinkled "Why?"

"Because I want to make sure I understand them before I yell at you." He replied calmly. Not giving her time to respond, he climbed out of bed and after pulling on a pair of shorts, held out a short silk robe for her to take "Here, I don't want to be distracted."

Feeling irked that he was destroying her mood; she nevertheless tugged on the robe and sat up against the headboard "Whatever happened to afterglow?"

"It may come later but it depends on how pissed I am." He replied steadily.

"Pissed about what?

"Explain."

Reminding herself that only a short while ago she'd been upset at thought of not hearing his voice ever again, Lois quelled the urge to tell him to get lost and poured out rapidly "When I have visions of other people, I have a few minutes at most to act. When it's a vision about me, it sometimes happens that day or it could be several months before it comes to pass. However, a series of flashes that form a complete vision have no time limit. They usually take weeks just to get to the point and twice as long to come to fruition."

"So when did you know that all those moments were actually flashes leading to a vision." Leaning forward, he caged her in against the headboard and asked abruptly "And I don't want any bullshit Lois; when did you figure it out?"

"I knew after Angelo was lifted to safety and I was left alone on the platform waiting for help." She pressed her fingers against his shoulder and tried to nudge "Do you mind moving back a little, you're crowding me."

"And I'm going to crowd you a whole lot more." He bit out unmoved "How could you not know before that?"

"How am I supposed to know before I have a vision?" She asked confused and at his low growl, glared "I'm not psychic Clark." When his eyes narrowed, she growled peevishly "You know, I could have sworn you were happy I was alive."

"Yeah and the fact that you almost weren't, has put me a little on edge." He retorted crisply and continued in a voice that grew in volume until the last word came out as a roar "Or maybe I'm upset because you've been living with this shit for 15 years now, yet somehow didn't know all those moments you dismissed were actually leading to a vision showing you in danger."

"I've never had a vision showing me in any kind of danger and before you ask, no! I never saw anyone else in those moments or flashes or whatever the hell they were, so how was I supposed to know." She yelled back.

When he pushed away to sit on the side of the bed, she softened and scooted over to sit beside him "Even when I had the vision of the scaffold falling, I didn't know it was ultimately going to be about me or that it was all tied into the moments I've had the past couple of weeks because it didn't show that."

"Since our wedding you've had two more moments that you told me about; are there any you haven't mentioned?" He asked quietly.

"Only the one I had earlier." When his eyes moved to hers in question, she told him candidly "Clark, these moments I've been having aren't like the normal flashes I'm used to getting; they're shorter and less intense so I didn't pay them any mind but the one I had today was worse."

Rubbing his hands over his face, he exhaled heavily "Tell me what happened?"

"Ok…" Turning side on to face him and in the process make herself more comfortable, she tugged the belt of the robe tighter and began "Ok, well after I saw the photos, I was going to walk around the shops for a bit but then I changed my mind because I didn't want to get distracted and lose track of time. So I decided to have a snack before going onto the Planet, and was waiting for my order to arrive when I started to feel weird. I can't really explain it but…"

"Try."

Scratching her cheek absently, she thought about it for a moment before querying "You know when you watch a movie and the camera focuses in on an object, like a building for instance and then it pans out so everything rushes back until you can see the rest of the city, and although you know the building the camera was first focused on is supposed to be in the centre, you can no longer distinguish it because it's so small." At his nod, she shrugged "That's what it was like. Although I knew that I hadn't moved physically, it felt like I was being pulled away and everything surrounding me just fell back; the people, the café, the sounds of vehicles and pedestrians were all gone. Yet at the same time I could still see and hear them. The noise was faint, almost hushed and the people were like little dots so although I knew they were there, if felt like they weren't."

"And is that how it felt when you had all those moments you kept brushing off?"

She chewed her lip but bobbed her head reluctantly.

"Then why in hell did you keep ignoring them Lois? Those moments may have been different to what you were used to, but you can't tell me you didn't suspect something was up." He concluded emphatically.

"In hindsight I can see…"

"Don't lie to me!" He flashed out angrily and clasping her chin, looked her straight in the eye "Hindsight has nothing to do with it. Now why didn't you want to deal with it?"

"Because I just wanted to enjoy being engaged" She admitted in a small voice.

"Lois…."

Ignoring his interruption, she pushed on regardless "At first all I wanted to do was get through the wedding and afterwards I was going to think about, I swear but then I figured we deserved the opportunity of just being newlyweds for a little bit and maybe later…." She broke off and raking one hand through her hair confessed haltingly "As you said before; this shit has been going on for 15 years now and I know it's never going to end but just for a little while, the only madness I wanted to deal with was us. I know it's stupid but that's what I wanted."

Sighing deeply, he picked her left hand and rubbed his thumb over the rings sitting there "Baby you can't escape it. It's part of your life….our life now."

"I know but I hate having visions about myself. It feels like any decisions I make are already pre-determined, and I'm just following along like a robot."

"Some people would actually like to get a head's up on what's going to happen in their life." He told her ironically.

"Well I'm not one of them, I never have been." She replied frankly "I like knowing it's my hands on the wheel, that I'm the master of my fate. I'll happily take the lumps as well as the accolades for any decisions I make, whether they be good or bad but I refuse to let the visions bully me into doing what they want."

His lips crooked up at the fierceness in her tone "I don't think the visions are sentient Lo."

"Maybe, but it feels good to tell them off every now and then anyway" She muttered unconvinced.

"Ok and now for the big question; why did you downplay the moments you've been having to me?" He asked directly.

Feeling extremely awkward, her eyes fell away from his "Because I didn't want you to get sick of it all, before you'd even had a chance to get used to it."

Tilting up her face, he searched her eyes "When I asked you to marry me Lois, I knew what I was taking on and when you said yes, I assumed the same was true for you."

"It was."

"Then why?"

"Because our relationship happened so fast and it was all so new and shiny, that I didn't want anything to spoil it" She confessed shamefaced.

"Our relationship did happen at super-speed Lo but it was never new and shiny" He informed her plainly "In case you've forgotten; it was the enchantment of sex that brought us together, not the pitter-patter of our hearts and although that may not be the stuff of romance novels, do you know why I'm not inclined to pretty it up?" Not giving her time to speak, he continued "Because I never wore a mask for you babe, never pretended to be the unflawed man of your dreams. Yet despite knowing what I'm really like, for reasons that escape me but which I'm very grateful for, you fell in love with me anyway."

"The reason is simple…" Her lips crooked up faintly "I've never been interested in finding the perfect man, just the man whose perfect for me and since I've always preferred my romantic heroes a little rough around the edges well….."

Chuckling when she trailed off and looked at him pointedly, Clark raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss atop the knuckle "Then I guess we're both lucky, since I'm not interested in being any woman's romantic hero except for yours."

Her smile slowly bloomed "You do lose a couple of points because I've never gone for men who are pretty but otherwise…"

"Stop right there; I am not pretty!" He growled peeved.

"There; that craggy charm is what I fell for." She chortled softly. At his beam of approval, she wrinkled her nose playfully "You are pretty but I overlook it."

"I wonder if there's a way to scar my face." Clark wondered aloud.

"From what you've told me of your physiology, I'd say not." Lois delivered the death blow and when he let out a long gloomy sigh, crossed her heart solemnly "I promise to continue loving you anyway."

"Thanks." Giving her fingers a squeeze, he told her openly "All joking aside babe; if it wasn't for our hormones going nuts for each other, we wouldn't have spent any time together while you holidayed in Smallville, nor be here right now." Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Clark told her softly "You could have come and gone a second time, all without us ever knowing what we'd lost."

Lois hunched her shoulders up to her ears defensively "Don't use the word destiny."

Grunting loudly in contempt, he scoffed "Oh please, I haven't used that word since the day I got an erection and didn't make excuses to myself for why I wanted to do the woman I was with, but not tie myself to her for life." At his wife's snorting giggle, he added earnestly "From that day forward I partied like it was 1999, until I wore myself out."

"Slut."

"You bet." Grinning, he pressed smiling lips to hers and got back to the point "Destiny had nothing to do with us Lo; the only higher power we had on our side was my mom." When her brows lifted in question, he declared outright "As far as I was concerned, saying hello to you had been a mistake and if my mom hadn't ordered me to go to your place and welcome you back, I would have avoided you like the plague."

"No you wouldn't." She negated flatly.

"Yes I would." He countered adamantly "It was finding you asleep in the hammock that changed my plans."

"That's what you think."

His brow cocked up challengingly "What'd you know that I don't."

Rather than answer, she asked "You intended to avoid me because I'd been so rude when you stopped me to say hello correct?" At his nod, she professed guiltily "I was deliberately hostile to you that day, in an effort to make you stay away from me because I saw the interest in your eyes and…."

"And what?" He interrupted suspiciously.

"Well remember when I told you about all the visions I've had of us?" When his eyes narrowed further, she cleared her throat "What I neglected to tell you, was that when I looked up and saw you standing in front of me on the street that day, I had my very first vision of us." At his burst of laughter, Lois glared "It's not funny."

"Oh yes it is…" He countered amused "Do you how many women would pay good money just to get a glimpse of the man they're going to marry; but you just have to be the exception."

"I didn't see us getting married; I saw us doing things a lady doesn't talk about." She remarked tartly.

He licked his lips and wiggled his brows meaningfully "We've done all the stuff you won't talk about right?"

"We've done a whole lot more."

He smiled slowly and gave her a suggestive wink "That's good."

Giggling, she cupped his face in her palms "Yeah it is but it still wasn't destiny."

"It was all us." He agreed and smoothed one hand down her back possessively "Ok, now you said that while you were at the café, you had another flash. What happened after that?"

"Well I was pretty freaked out and my head was pounding so badly it made me feel sick and then about a minute later the vision hit. I saw everything….well not Angelo having a stroke or me being stuck up there alone but I saw the platform break and knew that he and some people on the ground below were going to be killed when it fell."

"So you knew it was going to fall and yet you climbed on anyway." Feeling the anger he'd thought gone flare up again, Clark asked grittily "Why in hell did you get onto that damned scaffold knowing you could be killed Lois?"

Blowing out a deep breath, she disclosed openly "Honestly, I don't know. I can't tell you I expected to make it because I wasn't even thinking that far ahead. I just knew that I couldn't leave Angelo there to cope on his own. I tried to call for help but I couldn't get through the doors to the offices beyond, there was no emergency phone near the lifts to call the lobby. I couldn't get you on my cell and I couldn't wait forever to see it anyone was going to answer my screams. There was only me and Angelo and he was frightened; pleading for help. So although I knew it was insane, I had to do it." Lifting one hand to his face, she traced her fingers over his brow in a light touch "If you hadn't seen the news and gotten there in time to save me…."

His hand reached up to clasp hers "I never saw the news Lo. I heard your heart galloping like a runaway horse and it scared the living hell out of me, so I flew to Metropolis to find you."

Her eyes opened wide in astonishment "Surely you couldn't have heard it at the Fortress."

"I was at the fortress when I started to feel uneasy but I brushed it off as last minute nerves about going public. However, when I was at the watchtower the uneasiness which continued to cling, turned to outright panic. I didn't know what was wrong but thought there must have been a disaster taking place somewhere around the globe that needed my help. It was only when AC mentioned super hearing that I knew it was you." Seeing the bewilderment on her face, he explained further "The day I discovered that you'd packed up and left Smallville without a word, was the longest day of my life Lois. I spent 9 hours in a constant sweat while waiting for the JLA to find you because I didn't know where to start looking. The longer I had to wait, the more determined I was to find a way to keep track of you in future..." He paused before admitting somewhat amused "I did think about giving you a necklace with an electronic tag in it, but scrapped that idea when I thought of your reaction should you ever find out."

"Excuse me; a necklace." Lois growled irritated "You mean like a cat that wears a bell around its neck?"

"I only thought about it for an hour or two, so you can get that look of your face." When the glower became more pronounced, he retorted bluntly "You spend a whole day on tenterhooks just waiting for news on a loved one, and see how you like it." When her lips twisted in acknowledgment, Clark figured that was as much as he could expect "Anyway, that night after you drifted off I was just listening to the sounds you make when asleep….."

"I don't make sounds." She cut in belligerently while secretly hoping he was joking.

"Yes you do; you have this little snore that's kind of cute." He told her frankly. Paying no attention to her disgruntled snarl, he continued "Leaving that aside, as I was falling asleep I began listening to the sound of your heartbeat and over the past month, it's become a kind of habit to do that but I didn't pay any attention to the rhythm Lo, I just thought of the sound as a sort of homing signal so I'd know where you are." Leaning his forehead against hers, he shook it slowly "If AC hadn't mentioned super-hearing, I don't know if I would have realised that the sound of your heartbeat which has become an unconscious comfort to me, was hammering so hard it was affecting my own."

Clasping her shoulders in his hands, Clark sat back and drilled his eyes into hers. "This morning I thought I knew how I felt Lois, but when I saw that platform plunge like brick towards the ground with you inside…" Breaking off, he cursed loudly "I had to be a good mile away when I saw that and considering I was already going full bore as it was, I don't even know now how I managed to get there in time. I just knew my life was on that scaffolding with you and I had to make it." Cupping her face in his palms, he muttered thickly. "I'm afraid of not being with you."

Hearing similar words, seeing the same harshness on his face that he'd worn earlier, she understood and sucking in a shaky breath, told him in a voice harsh with emotion "You're not the only one who found that out today Clark. I was so scared, I kept thinking of all the people I loved that I was never going to see again but you were the one I wasn't ready to leave."

Feeling something loosen at knowing he wasn't in it alone, he declared brutally honest "I love you but I don't like being anyone's hostage."

Squirming internally at the knowledge that she was his, she mumbled uncomfortably "Neither do I."

"But I'm yours." He attested bluntly.

Her mouth trembled in response "And I'm yours."

Grasping her hands, he drew her a little closer "I want to add an addendum to our vows."

"Do I need to put on my wedding dress again?"

"Just repeat after me." Holding her eyes captive, he stated "From this day forth…."

"From this day forth…." She repeated faithfully.

"Remember that my life is inextricably linked with yours, so take better care of it in future than you did today." Clark summed up firmly.

"That's not a vow." Lois reprimanded gently but at the squeeze of his fingers, affirmed in a steady voice "I will and I expect you to keep that in mind too."

"I will." Leaning forward their lips met to seal the deal then broke apart satisfied.

Feeling good, she got to her feet and stretched "Now I want is a shower and some food."

"What about afterglow?"

"It's a bit late for that don't you think?" She retorted dryly.

"Not if we have sex again." He replied in such a wicked tone, she laughed and took a stumbling step back. Getting to his feet, Clark grinned wolfishly "Baby we just refreshed our vows, so it's time to for you to put out."

Holding out her hands to ward him off, Lois took another step back and squealed with laughter when he grabbed her around the waist, tossed her onto the bed and leapt on top.

oOo

Smoothing the damp strands of hair away from her face afterwards, he swept his eyes over her face "Mrs Kent."

At his murmur, she opened darkened drowsy eyes to smile into his. Lifting her hand, she raked her fingers gently through his hair then tugged, hard "You like to live dangerously."

"I married you didn't I." He quipped sweetly and smiled when she poked out her tongue "Besides, I told you I like it."

"Like riling me up is what you mean."

"That too." Pushing up to sit against the headboard, he captured her hand and gently tugged her up beside him, smiling in amusement when she automatically dragged the sheet up with her "You haven't got anything to hide that I haven't already seen you know."

"Unlike you, I can't just sit here all naked unless we're doing stuff."

Lips twitching, Clark remarked solemnly "So we're no longer referring to sex as thing, we're now going to call it stuff huh?"

"I didn't call it thing, you did." She reminded him snottily then paused and tacked on sheepishly "But I did just call it stuff."

"Ah well, at least when we have company over and I tell you that I need your help with some stuff out back, you'll know that I'm saying, let's have sex while our friends entertain themselves."

Gurgling out a laugh, she poked him in the side "You really would do that."

"I really would." He confirmed with a companionable pat to her hip "Speaking of friends, both my cell phone and the house phone were ringing non-stop before I switched them over to the machine. Dean was one of them; he told me that he'd already spoken to Carol just to make sure she was holding up ok but would call her again after talking to me, just to reassure her that you were alright."

"I think your friend likes mine." Lois remarked soberly.

"I think you're right." He agreed in a like manner "Another caller was your sister. Unfortunately, I don't have either hers or your dad's numbers, so had to wait for one of them to call the house since your phone was gone. Anyway, Lucy said your dad was in a meeting with some mucky muck's and wasn't expected to be free before 12. Since you were alright, she couldn't disturb him but she did leave him a message and asked if you could call both of them when you're feeling up to it."

Taking a look at the bedside clock, she noted it was almost 12.15pm "I'd better call daddy first; hopefully they did finish on time." Taking the cell-phone Clark was holding out, she swiftly dialled her father's number and after several minute's conversation, called Lucy before hanging up "Daddy understood why you didn't call him yourself but since he doesn't want that to happen again, he told me to give you his private number."

"He did?"

"Mmm."

"He must like me." Clark grinned hugely "I knew all that threatening he did before the wedding was just nonsense."

"Make me unhappy and you'll soon find out it wasn't." Lois boasted proudly.

"Even without super-powers, your dad can be a very scary man." He mock shivered.

"General Lane is no sissy." She concurred cheerfully and climbed out of bed "Let's have lunch."

oOo

_Daily Planet – An hour later_

Striding into the conference room, Perry called out for attention while switching on the view screen "Ok everyone listen up; see that guy there…." He hit pause and pointed to the screen which showed a picture of Clark holding the swing platform in mid-air "The JLA have just confirmed that he's the Blur."

"We already knew that chief." Bill Ward from sports piped up confidently.

"No we didn't." Entertainment guru Joanne Taylor countered heatedly.

Yelling to be heard when arguments began to break out in the room, Perry continued "No Ward, some people assumed it but neither the Green Arrow nor Batman directly stated as much, they only insinuated it." Staring down the people who began to murmur, he huffed out a deep breath "The people who assumed it were right but keep in mind, you could just as easily have been wrong. Given that a new superhero seems to pop up every once in a while, it was short sighted to jump to the gun and assume it was the Blur before official confirmation was given. This is the Daily Planet and we deal in facts and now that we have one; it makes all the difference."

All nodded obediently, but those who'd been right nevertheless smiled smugly at those who who'd been debating the issue, causing mutters and murmurs to break out once more. Rolling his eyes, Perry raked one hand through his hair and declared loudly "I assumed it was the Blur too and couldn't understand why the issue was being debated at all but clearly a lot of people did, which is why the JLA felt bound to make it clear. So no one was right or wrong; are we all on the same page now?"

Bobbing their heads once more, both groups smirked victoriously at each other at hearing the editor's words.

"Right, now as you all know the press conference was called off and the JLA have now stated they see no reason to hold another, since the Blur has already made his first public appearance in such spectacular fashion. That means his story is up for grabs to the first reporter who can land an interview with him." Drilling his eyes into all the staff milling around, he stated bluntly "I intend that reporter to be one of mine, clear!"

"What about me and Sheila?" Michael Emerson protested and thumbed towards his colleague on the left "We were assigned to cover the conference, so surely we should have seniority to get the story."

"When the conference was going to be aired on national television, sending two reporters down to cover it was fine since every news media was going to reporting the same thing Emerson, but now that the fields been opened to the first reporter who gets the story, then I don't care who pulls it in as long as he or she is from the Daily Planet." Perry countered absolutely.

"But chief…."

Drilling his eyes into the man until he sank down into his seat, Perry continued hammering the point home to ensure no one missed it "Since the Blur has been spotted in and around Metropolis more than anywhere else over the years, the news media stationed here has an edge over everyone else BUT, don't kid yourselves into thinking the Star is our only competition…."

"What about the Inquisitor." Thomas Burke one of the reporters called out inquisitively.

Perry grunted crudely in response "I won't even dignify that with a response Burke."

Clearing his throat noisily at being the censure of all eyes, he mumbled "Sorry chief."

"The Star maybe a tabloid rag but it's rivalry with the Planet has kept us on our toes…." Perry continued emphatically looking at everyone in turn "However, I know for a fact that two papers from out of town who sent reporters to cover the conference, have decided to keep their people right here in Metropolis for the time being hoping to out scoop the local competition and we're not going to let them!"

When they sat up straight and began to murmur, he held up his hands for silence "I want all of you out there beating the bushes looking for the Blur. Eye witness accounts are all very nice but we're going to have an abundance of them pouring in over the next 24 hours, since that's the way these superheroes seem to roll. The minute they step out in public eye, they start saving anything that's breathing. So spend your time looking for the man; he's the one I want." Tapping the table he made each point emphatically "Look down by the wharves, check out suicide slums, look under rocks and in people's closets if you have to, but get me the Blur!"

As each person scrambled up from their seats and out the conference room, Colin Lewis the editor of Features made his way over to Perry "Chief, one of my reporters is that ladies cousin." He remarked, pointing to Lois in the picture up on screen.

"The reports of her trying to help the window washer have been talked about non-stop Colin." Perry remarked unimpressed "The lady's already had her 15 minutes of fame and now it seems that every man and his dog who saw her being saved, also wants their share by commenting on the spectacle to the media." Pausing he tapped his fingers meditatively against his lips while bending his mind to the matter "Of course no one's actually gotten a direct account from her yet….hmmm. Well the story would make for a good human interest piece and being saved by the Blur does kick it up a notch but she's not my priority, he is. Does your reporter have any news that would interest us?"

"I know that she's spoken to her cousin." Colin shrugged neutrally "Sullivan said that she's fine and is grateful to the man for saving her life."

"So basically Sullivan doesn't have anything, except a cousin who's glad to be alive." Perry calculated decisively "Every newspaper tomorrow is going to be rehashing the same story, just with a different headline and the only advantage we'd have is getting a firsthand account from the woman via her reporter cousin. That's all very well but since footage of her being saved her has been running non-stop for the past two hours, it's already old news." He paused to take a breath and carried on "I want the Planet to be the paper that stands out from the crowd. I want us to get an exclusive interview with the Blur himself." He rolled his eyes heavenward before remarking dryly "By this time tomorrow we're going to have a flood of stories about the Blur rescuing people. As I mentioned just a minute ago, these super heroes are all alike. The minute they come out of the closet they start saving anything with a pulse."

"Yeah I've noticed." Colin's lips quirked "It makes me wonder if there's a quota they have to fill the minute they pull on the tights."

"Maybe there is; we should ask the JLA sometime." Perry laughed and with a wave turned for his office.

oOo

_Same day - approx: 4.30pm_

Lois' brows rose at finding Melvin Banks, the editor of the Smallville Gazette on her doorstep. Smiling in greeting she swung the screen door wider in welcome "Hi Melvin, come on in."

Bobbing his head in thanks, he stepped inside then looked down at the squeaky bark from below "Hey Attila; how's trick?"

The dog woofed at his name and gave his ear a hearty scratch.

"That means he's happy to see you." She informed Melvin straight faced then giggled when he replied chattily "Last week he barked hello before he began licking himself, what does that mean?"

"Um…." Throwing up her hands, she shook her head "It means that I'm glad not to have been there."

"I think Martha wished she hadn't been there either." He twinkled merrily.

Chuckling, she led the way into the lounge room "Clark's over at the farm but I expect him back in about half an hour; would you like to wait?"

"I actually came to see you."

"Oh, well then would you care for a cup of coffee?"

"I wouldn't say no." He smiled in thanks and at her gestured to take a seat, happily made himself comfortable on the couch.

Returning several minutes later with a tray piled with coffee, milk, sugar and cake, Lois smiled in thanks when he jumped up to retrieve it from her and after serving them both, took a seat in the chair opposite.

Taking a sip of the beverage, Melvin cocked one brow inquisitively "I hope you don't mind my dropping round without calling ahead."

"Not at all."

"Oh good…" He smiled and without fanfare announced "I wanted to talk to you about what happened this morning."

"I thought so…." She shook her head and amended "Sorry, what I mean is that a lot of people have called to ask how I am, so I wondered if that was why."

"Well that's not precisely why I'm here." He admitted frankly. At the quick laughter in her eyes, he chuckled in return "Now that came out wrong. I'm certainly glad you're ok but since I called Clark earlier to ask how you were and he told me that you were fine, I didn't drop round to visit for that reason alone." He frowned and asked curiously "Does that sound alright, or is this one of those times when my wife would mutter under her breath that she can't take me anywhere?"

Lois chuckled entertained "That was fine."

"Good, um….I called Clark again about 30 minutes ago to ask if you were up to having visitors and he assured me that you were." He paused and asked tactfully "I hope that I'm not disturbing you because if so I can come back at a more convenient time."

"It's fine Melvin truly. I've had a number of friends and neighbours pop over today and another is always welcome, so please don't worry that you're bothering me or any such nonsense." She reassured swiftly. At his answering smile of relief, she smiled back and asked apologetically "Was I supposed to call you back? Clark didn't mention it but there were a lot of messages so yours might have gotten lost among all the others he had to pass on."

"Oh no, I didn't leave a message. I just called Clark after seeing the news earlier today then I called him again to find out if you were up to having visitors, and here I am." At her nod of understanding, he sat forward and decided not to waste her time with anymore small talk "The thing is Lois; you're something of a minor celebrity here in Smallville…."

"Me; but I'm not…." She squeaked out surprised.

"Oh but you are." He cut in to correct candidly "Not only are you the woman who risked her life to help that man but you also have the distinction of being the first person to be saved openly and in public by the Blur."

"Yeah but…."

Not paying any attention to the interruption, he continued rolling on "The same Blur that people have been writing about for years, yet could never give any substantiated evidence really existed. The very same Blur the public is fascinated with because he's been so mysterious."

She bobbed her head and tried again "I know but…"

"And then today for the very first time ever, he appeared in public and saved you; a member of the Smallville community."

"Yes but…."

"Which brings me to the reason for my visit; I'd like you to write an account of your experience for the Gazette." Melvin slid the request in smoothly.

"But I'm not a reporter." She managed to peep out alarmed.

"You don't need to be a reporter to write a story about what you know." He replied blandly and without giving her time to recover, carried on "And I'm sure the Smallville community would enjoy reading a story written by one of their very own, all about her experience with the Blur who as you know, is very well regarded in these parts."

"I know but…"

Rolling right over her protests, he sat forward excitedly "A detailed account of your experience is what I'm after, something that will give the readers insight into how you were feeling at the time; the fear and helplessness, the thoughts rushing through your mind. What was it like when the platform fell and then the Blur swooped in to save you so miraculously? Did he say anything afterwards? What was he like? Did he reveal his name?" Seeing the stunned expression on her face, he figured it was time to nudge her along before she could recover "A story of about 500 words, on the front page of the Smallville Gazette…."

"The front page but…"

He sighed wistfully "I know we're not in the big leagues like The Daily Planet or The New York Times…."

Worried he'd taken offence, she shook her head and hands frantically "No, it's not that…."

Pretending to believe she was just being nice, he allowed his shoulders to slump fractionally and kept going "So I don't blame you for being a bit disappointed that your story is only going to be published in a small town newspaper but although our readership isn't vast, it's fairly respectable all the same and…."

"I like your newspaper a lot. I subscribed to it the first day I arrived in town and read it every single week." She insisted desperately.

Giving her hand an avuncular pat, he beamed out a smile "Why thank you, I'm that pleased to know you enjoy it and really can anything be more perfect. Being a regular subscriber, you know our stories are community based, not world based and…."

Feeling like she was being had but not knowing how to get out of it, Lois nodded her head and just kept nodding as Melvin continued talking. Seeing the bewilderment on her face, he changed tactics and pointed out neatly "And I'm sure you can agree that us watching your ordeal and subsequent rescue on television, while both terrifying and thrilling for us, is not the same as knowing what it was like being in your shoes." When her head stopped nodding and began to shake back and forth as if hypnotised, he held back the laugh and smiled sunnily "And that's precisely why I want you to write the story. Why I want it to be in your own words. It would carry more juice don't you think?"

"I suppose."

Knowing he'd all but won, Melvin's beaming smile became more glimmering "I knew you'd agree."

"Agree." She parroted stupidly.

"Uh huh." He confirmed happily "Now I know you're probably nervous and I'll admit my original intention, was to have one of my staff members interview you. However, when I floated the idea past Clark to get a feel on whether he thought you might be interested, he just happened to mention that you did a reporting stint a few years ago so I thought, why not get you to write it instead."

Mentally smacking her husband upside the head, Lois protested groaningly "But that was 15 years ago and did he happen to tell you where I worked?"

"He did indeed; the Inquisitor." Melvin supplied without hesitation.

"Exactly!" She stated plainly "I had zero experience and worked at the Inquisitor, doesn't that give you pause?"

"Why should it?" He asked simply.

"Well because…." Floundering helplessly, she threw out one hand in appeal "….because it's the Inquisitor that's why."

"I understand; you hated the job and were embarrassed about working there." He made a slight face in apology "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"I enjoyed the job and as for being ashamed; no!" She corrected forthright "The Inquisitor may not be the snazziest paper in the world but that job helped me to pay the bills and put food in my belly, so I didn't give a happy damn what anyone thought; not then and not now."

"Good, because I don't give a happy damn either." He stated flatly.

Laughing at the way he'd very neatly conned her, Lois shook her head in appreciation of his sneakiness "You're good."

Almost preening, Melvin waved one hand modestly "Thank you but Lois, the truth is very few people begin working at the top of the totem pole. Most everyone has to work their way up and it's a hard slog, not a free ride. The fact that you had no experience, yet still managed to obtain a reporting job at a professional paper like that…."

"Professional…" She shook her head patiently "Melvin I've never heard anyone calling the Inquisitor that before and certainly not about my work there."

"Well I could be wrong but from my understanding, the Inquisitor's in the business to make money just like everyone else. They're not a benevolent institution handing out free jobs to needy would be writers, without expecting something in return. Now I'll admit the kind of stories they generally publish, aren't the kind I'm interested in and will further state upfront that the Inquisitor isn't of the same calibre as the Daily Planet or the Star, but I also don't remember it ever pretending to be in their class either." He informed her bluntly and looking her dead in the eye added "As to your work there; well let me tell you a little something about that from a boss's perspective. As the editor of the Gazette, I call the shots on what stories are published in my paper and if my employees aren't prepared to meet my demands, then they can hit the road and find work elsewhere and I don't believe it was any different when you worked at the Inquisitor. So if you're boss wanted sensationalism, then it was your job to provide what you were being paid for."

Swiftly putting down her cup, she leaped out of her chair and hugged him hard "Thank you."

Laughing, he gave her back a pat and when she retook her seat, divulged "I had my junior assistant look up your work you know. It took him a couple of hours searching through the Inquisitors electronic archives but he found a few of the articles you'd written."

"What'd you think?" She asked apprehensively.

"That it's a pity you gave up reporting." He asserted openly. "I read a story you wrote on underground cage fighting that was nothing short of excellent and a few you wrote on the Green Arrow that were intriguing. I had no idea that you were the one who'd brought him to the public's attention and while the stories you wrote about him weren't flattering, what made them all the more interesting is knowing they were written before it was common knowledge, that he was the founder of the JLA." Taking a deep breath, Melvin grimaced feelingly "Unfortunately there were also a couple of stories you wrote that I wish I'd remained in ignorance off…" At her snort of laughter, his lips twitched "Altogether, the good outweighed the bad and although it's a question for the ages what kind of reporter you'd be today, I think you would have outgrown the Inquisitor eventually and moved on." He grinned widely and finished with "Who knows; if you'd kept at it then today you might have been the top reporter at the Smallville Gazette."

Laughing, she scooted forward the edge of her seat "I'll give it a shot; I'll write an article for you."

"You will?"

"Mmm hmm, the only stipulation I have is that you edit the story very carefully because it has been a long time, and I was only a novice back then too."

"You were a novice with a lot of potential but I'm happy to do as you ask." He reaffirmed swiftly "The Gazette may only be a local paper but I take a lot of pride in it. So you just concentrate on writing the story and I'll take care of the editing."

"You'd better check the spelling too." She advised candidly "I've been told mine can be pretty gruesome."

"I will and um…." He hesitated for a beat before asking hopefully "Unfortunately and I apologise for the short notice, but do you think I could have it by 3 o'clock on Wednesday."

"Wednesday; you mean the day after tomorrow?"

Hearing the alarm in her voice, he quickly rushed on "Since the paper comes out on Friday mornings, the normal routine is for all stories to be submitted no later than 3pm on Thursday. However, I think it will pay to have an extra day up your sleeve, just in case I need you to do any revisions to it. I'm not saying you will but it can't hurt to be cautious."

Seeing the wisdom in that argument, Lois gulped at the enormity of task ahead of her and replied faintly "Ok."

"Wonderful, now we just have to discuss your fee…."

"Melvin I'm not a reporter so….." Lois interrupted to explain and was interrupted in turn, when he continued undaunted "Just because you're not on the payroll, doesn't mean I expect you to give up your time and write it for free but neither do I have a large budget. So taking that and your lack of experience into account how about…." Pursing his lips, he named a figure and asked curiously "What'd you think; fair enough?"

"More than" Smiling, she stuck out her hand and gave his a hearty shake "Well I'd better get out my laptop and when my husband comes home, I'm going to hit him with it first before getting down to work."

Chuckling, he got to his feet and after a few more words, left her to it.

oOo

Stepping inside the house an hour later, Clark walked into the kitchen and after setting a cooler on the side of the sink, pressed a kiss to the top of Lois' head before heading to the fridge for a beer "Hey babe; whatcha doing?"

Ignoring the question, she looked up and growled "Why did you tell Melvin I worked at the Inquisitor."

"Why shouldn't I?" Retrieving a bottle for himself, he turned and asked "Want one?" At the headshake, he took a seat opposite and noting she appeared to still be waiting for an answer, promptly lied "It just slipped out."

"It just slipped out; really?" Settling her elbows on the table, Lois rested her chin atop her linked hands and winged one brow up "Considering my stint at reporting was over almost before it began and that was a lifetime ago, I find it hard to believe that it just slipped out."

"It's true." He declared stoutly.

"Come on, come on…what's the real reason." She waved him on waiting for the truth.

Grasping onto her hand, he brought it to his lips and pressed a kiss atop the knuckles "Your scepticism hurts but I forgive."

Biting her lip to hold in a giggle, Lois cleared her throat and remarked tartly "Your tawdry attempt at dodging the question doesn't work."

Grinning hugely, he decided to give her a half truth "Ok, when Melvin hesitantly broached the subject of you being interviewed for the Gazette, I told him you'd probably get a kick out of it since you were a reporter back in the day." Seeing the light of suspicion hadn't faded from her eyes, he sighed hugely before confessing all "And I did it in the hope that your interview could work in my favour."

"Firstly, you never thought much of my reporting job back in the day." She griped pointedly.

"Lo, I never thought much at all back in the day." He returned simply causing her to giggle "But FYI, even though I teased you about your job, that doesn't mean I didn't read your articles."

"You did?"

"Yeah and I'll even confess that I thought some were complete junk but not all of them." He stated freely "I also know for a fact that a number of your stories we genuine and although you didn't have all the details, you had more than enough to make me and a few other people pretty damned uncomfortable."

At that, she sat up proudly "Really?"

"Uh huh."

"You remembered what I wrote?"

Seeing her face flush with pleasure, he shook his head apologetically "Truthfully, I'd all but forgotten you even worked at the Inquisitor until recently, when I found copies of your articles that I'd kept."

Her eyes widened in delight as her smile beamed out "You kept copies."

"Uh huh…" He confirmed unashamed "See, you thought all I did back then was snivel about Lana but that's just not true. I also whinged about my life and bitched about the world doing me wrong but once in a blue moon I did feel a bit cheery, so spent my time in the manly pursuit of scrapbooking…." Waiting for her burst of laughter to die down, he added playfully "I'm kidding…well I'm kidding about the scrapbooking part anyway."

Picking up his beer, she took a sip and cocked one brow in curiosity "How do you even know what that is?"

His smile flashed out sharp and bright "Do you really wanna know?"

"Let me guess, in your wild bachelor days you feigned an interest in it to sleaze onto some poor gullible woman, right?" She returned dryly.

"There was no sleazing involved." Clark corrected loftily. At her disgusted snort, he huffed out snippily "Oh yeah, well how many times did you pretend an interest in something just to crack onto some man?" When her face took on a sheepish expression, he slapped his hand on the table and announced crudely "HAH!"

Giggling, Lois held up her hands for peace "Ok, ok; I'm willing to admit that we've both resorted to skulduggery in the past, in order to score with the opposite sex; happy?"

"Thank you." He inclined his head briefly "Anyway, the truth is that years ago I collected all the articles you and Chloe wrote and being the packrat that I am, instead of throwing them away when I cleaned out the loft to turn it into storage space, I simply tossed them into a box and forgot about them. But when I was packing up my things at the farm to move in here, I stumbled across it and had a bit of a nostalgic chuckle recalling some of the incidents that provoked the stories being written in the first place. That's how I remembered your job at the Inquisitor."

"And you thought mentioning it to Melvin could work in your favour, how?" She asked curiously.

"Well I told Oliver that holding another press conference is pointless, since everyone saw me on television; you agree?" She nodded, he continued "But since I didn't get the opportunity to say anything since I had to miss the conference to save my lovely wife…" When Lois sneered, Clark paused to smile at her sweetly before continuing "I thought she could return the favour by lying for me during her interview, by saying the Blur revealed a couple of things to her which she feels sure he wouldn't mind her sharing with the world."

"Honey it's only the Smallville Gazette, not the New York Times." She reminded him amused

He shrugged indifferently "I don't care, it'll be out there and that's good enough for me."

"Well thanks to your big mouth, I'm not being interviewed for the Gazette. Melvin's asked me to write a story for it instead so…."

"Woo hoo, I win." He threw up his arms in victory.

"…I don't have time to make dinner." She finished snarkily.

"And I win again." He gloated rudely then yelped when she reached over and smacked him upside the head. Thumbing over his shoulder towards the cooler on the bench, he advised her cheerfully "Neither of us have to worry about dinner babe; mom made it for us as a surprise. All I have to do is warm it up and voila."

"Aw, your mom's really great. She didn't mention it when I was over there earlier. I'll call later and say thanks." Lois replied pleased "Anyway, when I finish the story I want you to read it and tell me what you think and you have to be honest, ok."

Oh fuck, he groaned mentally.

Not receiving a reply, she tapped him on the shoulder softly "Hon, I won't be hurt or upset if you don't like it."

That's what you say now, love to hear you say it again if the story stinks and I have the guts to say as much; he retorted silently.

Having a good idea of what he was thinking, she offered snidely "You want me to swear on the bible?"

YES! He screamed silently but replied out loud "Don't be silly babe; I know you wouldn't get upset with me about something like that. I'm just thinking is all."

"Well." She nudged after another minute of silence.

"Sure, I'd love to give you an unbiased opinion." He crossed his fingers under the table and lied.

"Thanks…" Waving at the laptop sitting on the table, she turned her attention back to it "For now, leave me alone so I can get back to this."

"So the honeymoon's over huh?"

"The honeymoon's history pal and now that I've got the ring; I don't have to be nice to you anymore." She batted her lashes playfully.

"Figures" He grunted and gulped down the rest of his beer "Answer one question for me first?"

"What's that?"

"How'd Melvin talk you into writing the story?"

Blushing fiery red, Lois mumbled under her breath.

Sitting forward, he tapped his ear meaningfully "Say again."

"He flattered me." She gritted out, causing him to roar with laughter "Shut up!"

oOo

_Next Night - approx: 11pm_

Clark looked over at Lois sitting at the kitchen table and sighed then turned back to the TV. He wanted to go to bed but didn't want to go alone and although he was tempted to coax her, he didn't feel it was up to him to make the first move. More than likely if he did, they'd just get into another fight and he was exhausted from the four they'd already had over the last 24 hours.

Taking a look at the clock, he mentally amended it to 25 hours and 42 minutes.

He wasn't inclined to cut her any slack or give her time off for good behaviour. She'd started foaming at the mouth about 9 o'clock the previous night and he was going to count every single minute of the time she'd been a pain in the ass to live with.

He'd thought it was funny at first when she began to growl at her computer and made the mistake of laughing when she began to pound on the keyboard with her fists. That set her off to screeching at him like a harpy and not in a way that he appreciated, which led to their first dustup.

He'd gone to bed aggravated and had woken up in the same frame of mind when he didn't find her beside him. Until he walked into the kitchen and found her asleep at the table; then he'd been concerned that she was exhausting herself needlessly. That led to their second argument, when she didn't seem to appreciate his concern.

He'd taken the dog and spent the day working at the farm waiting for her to call and apologise. He was still waiting. So far her apologies weren't worth much considering she gave one in a roundabout fashion and then shortly afterwards, turned into the fishwife from hell again.

Their third squabble occurred when he tried to get her to take a break, by joining him and Attila for a stroll around the neighbourhood after dinner a few hours ago. Not that she'd actually stopped for longer than 5 minutes to eat the dinner he'd prepared, but he'd thought getting her away from the damn computer for 15 minutes would be a good thing for both of them. His wife had other ideas and made them abundantly clear. Their last fight occurred hard on the heels of their third, when he became fed up with her attitude and made his own thoughts clear in return.

Right now they were in a state of a semi-truce. They weren't fighting but then they weren't talking either.

Wondering if this was payback for joking about the honeymoon being over and silently wishing he'd kept his big trap shut when talking to Melvin, Clark glanced at the dog and saw the downhearted posture of the beast. Understanding that the mutt was feeling slighted by his favourite person, he patted his lap. When Attila took the invitation to hop up but simply curled up and sank his chin onto his paws dejectedly instead of growling in excitement for a wrestling match, his mouth likewise turned down "Yeah, it hasn't been much fun around here has it buddy?"

Attila licked his hand and woofed softly in reply.

"She'll have time for us as soon as her story is done...if she ever gets it done." He muttered low voiced and stared at the television with disinterest.

oOo

Lois glanced over at Clark watching the TV, muttered underneath her breath and turned back to stare at her laptop in frustration.

What in hell made her think she could write this story? What in hell had Melvin been thinking to ask her to write it in the first place and what in hell had Clark been thinking to even mention she'd worked at the Inquisitor a million years ago. All three of them must have been out of their tiny little minds.

She'd only been a fledgling reporter for about 8 months and the only writing she'd done since then, had been in a journal she'd kept upon the advice of her doctor while staying at the cabin with Lucy. However, the last entry she'd made was almost 10 years ago and since then, all she'd written were emails to family and friends.

This was completely different.

This was supposed to be a story about her rescue by the newest superhero. Who really wasn't all that new since he'd actually been around for years, albeit incognito but she wasn't a freaking reporter so how in hell was she supposed to write this fucking thing!

With a quick headshake she placed her fingers on the keyboard, re-read what she'd written and stared at the screen for a good 10 minutes waiting for inspiration to strike before growling in frustration.

This was pointless!

Writing a story about herself wasn't a problem. Writing a story about Clark wasn't a problem. The problem was that she was just the damsel in distress and who wanted to read about her, when they could read about the hero of the hour. Yet how was she supposed to tell the community anything about the Blur, when she wasn't supposed to freaking know him!

The problem was that she had all this information and couldn't share it.

She needed to figure out a way to do that.

She needed inspiration.

Flicking her eyes to the side, she looked at Clark again and pushing out of her chair, stalked into the lounge room, grabbed his hand and tugged "I want sex."

Likewise wanting to dispel some of the aggravation humming inside himself but feeling the need to protest given all the griping she'd done at him, he tugged back "I'm not in the mood."

"Then just lie there while I get myself off." She retorted bluntly.

"What?"

"You heard, now let's go." She tugged again.

"So my wife thinks of me as her fuck buddy; thanks babe." He retorted sarcastically.

She rolled her eyes and asked sarcastically "How about I sweeten the deal by giving you an IOU in exchange; will that make you happy sweetheart?"

His brow cocked up interested "If I tell you to fall on your back one day without any build up, you'll do it and won't give me any grief either before or afterwards when I climb on top and get myself off."

"Yes."

His eyes narrowed into slits as he pushed the envelope further "You'll do whatever I want; no questions asked."

"Within reason." She stipulated firmly.

"Nuh huh; no questions asked." He repeated unwaveringly.

"If you ask for something freaky it's not going to happen."

"You know very well I'm not into freaky."

"I also know I can't trust that look in your eyes."

Giving a blasé shrug, he turned back to the TV "Ok, then forget it."

Irritated, she stomped back into the kitchen and sat down then bounced back up and stormed over again "You know I'm desperate, so you're deliberately pushing it aren't you?"

Taking his time to answer, he turned his head to nodded once "Yep."

Wanting to smack the smugness right out of him, she pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded "Fine, I agree."

"You're on!" Plopping Attila onto the couch, Clark got to his feet and while making his way to the bedroom called out tauntingly "For my IOU, I'll want you to wear a long blonde wig. So you'd better go out and buy one."

"I've already got one but thanks for reminding me because I'd love for you to wear it now."

"You don't have one."

"Sure I do, I bought it to wear at a Whitesnake concert years ago." She retorted sweetly and gave him a little push in the back to hurry him along.

Not sure if she was serious but scared to test it, he swung around "Ok, I'll forget the wig if you do."

She smirked and prodded him once more.

Standing his ground, he glowered in return "Is that a yes?"

"Fine; we'll forget the wig, now move it."

"You know, I can almost remember a time when the prospect of getting sex made me happy." He remarked scornfully.

"Suck it up and get going." Once inside the bedroom, Lois kicked the door closed and pulled of her t-shirt "Let's make this quick."

"If it has to be quick then what's the damn point?" He asked and toed off his shoes.

"The point is that I need an outlet and you're it."

"Is 5 minutes quick enough your highness?" He asked and threw his shirt on the floor.

Ignoring his manner, she kicked of her sandals "I'd prefer 3 maximum."

"I was joking."

"I'm not." She replied and yanked off her bra "I've got a story to write and not enough time to do it in, so I don't want to waste any of it."

Muttering under his breath, he unzipped his jeans and pushed them down.

Hearing his words a red haze passed before her eyes and with a bellow of outrage, Lois pushed him onto the bed and climbed on "What did you say?"

"I said that I don't give a shit about your story." He repeated loudly.

"You don't give a shit."

Ignoring the danger signals in her voice, he confirmed defiantly "Couldn't give two shits if you must know the truth."

With a snarl, she clamped her teeth into the side of his neck and dragged down her panties "Get your jocks off."

"I…"

"Do it!"

Feeling his eyes cross less than a minute later when she began bouncing on him, Clark wondered if it would be in his best interest to stay silent or speak and maybe provoke her ire even higher. Figuring it couldn't hurt to try ruffling her feathers even more by speaking in a soothing voice that he knew she'd hate, he remarked innocently "If the story…"

"You write the stupid story about your stupid self since you worked at the stupid Planet; got it!" Lois snarled and slamming her hands onto his chest for leverage, moved with ever increasing urgency.

He'd already known his love could be a right little hellcat on occasion but hadn't known that he could rile her up to this extent, and who knew that he could benefit from it so richly? Wondering if he should poke the bear again to incite her further, or simply enjoy the ride while the raging virago on top continued to use him as a sex toy or….

"Don't give a shit; you'd better start giving a shit!" Grasping his hands, she placed them on her breasts and moaned when he obligingly squeezed the globes and plucked lightly at the distended tips.

"I'm not a fucking reporter and I'm sick of the fucking story and I hate the fucking world and I want to punch the fucking blur and…." As a litany of bitter complaints and curse words poured out of her in a snarl, he sat up and clamped his mouth to her throat.

Tipping her head back, Lois sobbed as the tension that had been sucking the life out of her for the past 24 hours began to drain out and a new kind of tension; the good kind rushed in.

Making a mental note to piss her off more often, Clark gasped out "grab on tight baby" and sealing their mouths together, lifted her almost completely off him before bringing her back down hard, impaling her onto his penis over and over.

Feeling swamped by a mass of sensations as the sharp jolts of heat and tightness continued to rise from her womb, she ripped her mouth free and with a cry of delirium toppled over the edge.

Pushing her limp body down he grasped onto her left knee and holding the leg up high in one firm hand, continued to thrust in and out of her passage until the coiling tightness in his testicles gave one final contraction and arching his back, emptied himself inside her before collapsing at her side.

Trembling, shuddering, they lay in a tangled heap while dragging in much needed gulps of air, as hearts thundered in accord.

Feeling gloriously relaxed and infinitely wonderful, she stretched leisurely and slithered on top of him "That was sooo good and just what I needed."

Floating them both up, he pulled back the bedcovers, snuggled them back down and exhaled in contentment "It was longer than 3 minutes."

"Who cares?" Leaning down she pressed her lips to his "I'm sorry for all our fights Clark. I know I've said that more than once over the last 24 hours…."

"26 hours and…." Glancing at the clock, he counted before informing her "…17 minutes."

Her lips twisted in acknowledgment "I know that over the last 26 hours and 17 minutes, I've said sorry multiple times only to bite your head off again afterwards, but I haven't said sorry before without kind of blaming you…."

"Not kind of, actually blaming me." He put in self-righteously.

"…but this time I'm not; so I apologise." She finished in exasperation.

"I forgive you because you said sorry and because you used me so spectacularly." He told her nicely.

"Does that mean you're not going to collect on my IOU?"

"Don't talk crazy, of course I am." He returned speedily.

"I thought so."

"But I won't change the rules and make you wear the wig." He offered generously.

"I don't care about that but…." Planting one elbow on his chest, she rested her chin on her fist and pouched out her lip in dissatisfaction "I can't write the story Clark. I thought I'd finished it just before lunch today but when I read it over, I wasn't happy with the end result. I've spent every hour since then making version after version to try and fix what I don't like but have only succeeded in aggravating myself. I don't know what madness seized me to think that I could do this."

Zeroing in on what was most important to him, he perked up interested "You'll wear the wig."

"Forget about the wig; what about the story."

"The wig's important."

"I'll wear the damn wig, now what about the story." Lois growled impatiently.

"I couldn't care less about it." He yawned hugely in satisfaction.

"But I do." She griped annoyed with herself "I wanted to write this great article about you, but so far it's all me, me, me."

"How can an article about me be all about you?" He asked amused.

"Well, strictly speaking it's not supposed to be about you per say, it's supposed to be about my ordeal and the Blur naturally plays a role since he rescued me. However, since most everyone is under the impression that your alter ego is a stranger to me, I've only managed to put in a couple of little things from you and the rest is all from my perspective." She finished unhappily.

"Well that sounds about right." He replied sleepily "Tell you what, tomorrow morning I'll read what you've written. If it's a piece of crap, I'll let you know but it sounds like you're just being hard on yourself to me."

"You promise to tell me if it's crap."

"I swear, as long as you swear to be extra sweet to me and Attila to make up for your meanness."

"Attila?" She queried gently.

"Yeah, the two of us having been feeling so blue, we haven't even bugged each other."

"Then I swear to make it up to both of you." She promised solemnly.

"Good!" Giving her bottom a pat, he closed his eyes at peace with the world "Now forget about the stupid story about stupid me."

"The story's not stupid and although you get on my nerves, neither are you."

"That's not what you said when you were bouncing on me." He laughed sleepily.

"I can't be held responsible for anything I say during sex."

"Including the swearing?"

"Especially the swearing" She chuckled lightly and pressed a kiss to his forehead in remorse.

"Hmm, well you're the only woman who's sworn at me in bed and I have to say, it turns me on like a house afire." He mumbled around another huge yawn.

"Everything turns you on." She mused drolly.

"Everything you do." He corrected and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Unable to likewise shut her mind off and sleep, Lois chewed her lip in contemplation. She'd taken on the task of writing the story and just giving up went against her nature. Journalist or not, she'd given Melvin her word and didn't like letting him down. The problem was that the story he wanted, didn't satisfy her and so far that's all she had to show for her effort.

Slipping out of bed, she made her way to the lounge room and smiled sadly upon seeing Attila fast asleep in front of the television. Poor little mite, she'd barely spent any time with him before Melvin came over yesterday and none at all since. Promising to make it up to the beast on the morrow, she switched off the TV but hearing the soft ruff, looked down to see two big eyes looking at her in adoration. Picking up the dog, she hugged him gently "I'm sorry Attila, I didn't go with you and Clark on your walk last night or tonight and I haven't played with you or anything have I?" At the lick on the underside of her chin, she brought the animal up to her face and pressed a kiss between his eyes "The story isn't as important as you sweetie. My competitive nature just kicked in and screwed up my priorities as a result. But I promise that tomorrow is going to be better for all of us. If I don't get the story done in time, then who cares."

The dog woofed happily at being the recipient of her attention and wagged his tail in joy. Carrying the beast into the laundry, she placed him in his doggy bed and stroked until he fell back asleep before retrieving her laptop from the kitchen and climbing back into bed.

Looking down at the man sleeping at her side, she shook her head amused. In sleep Clark looked so innocent but awake, the sharp intelligence that burned in his mind sparkled in his eyes and more often than not, shot out of his mouth. He could be a hard-ass but not unkind with it. He had a wicked sense of humour but knew when it had to be contained and he could be patient but didn't put up with shit.

Smoothing one hand over his shoulder, Lois marvelled at how much strength was contained in his body then smiled when he murmured and buried his face into her side.

Melvin's idea of a story written by a member of the community that had been saved by Blur, for the community who loved him, was a good. If anyone else had been in her position, she'd want to read their story too and given that every single friend and neighbour who'd called or stopped by had mentioned the Blur in some way, it showed that Melvin knew what his readership was after.

Well she'd done as he asked. Weaving a story about her experience while giving free reign to her feelings for her hero, had taken little effort. 500 words to convey her passion for Clark's alter ego had been easy. The hard part had been ruthlessly cutting back on her word count. However, despite feeling gratified at being given the opportunity to openly express her appreciation for the Blur, she wasn't satisfied.

The night before last Clark's voice had been so confident and steady when he rehearsed the statement he'd intended to give at the conference but because he'd missed it, no one had heard it except for her. She tried to find a way to incorporate it into her story but couldn't. As the Blur, Clark wouldn't have had any reason to share so much with her just because he'd saved her life and if she put it in, she'd be bound to have everyone looking at them in suspicion.

The Blur might be the darling of Smallville but the man was the darling of her heart. She didn't want to filter his words through her.

Maybe if she didn't have personal ties to the Blur, it wouldn't matter so much but she did. She wanted to address all those who had concerns about super heroes, while giving her husband the opportunity to speak for himself. It was _**his**_ voice people were eager to hear. _**His**_ perspective they wanted to know. Unfortunately, there was no way she could pen an article like that credibly unless she lied.

Tapping her fingers meditatively against her lips, Lois nodded slowly.

Well why not and why hadn't she thought of it before?

She'd already lied about how she just happened to be in the building when he hoist broke, so all she had to do was lie again and that wouldn't bother her one whit.

Giving her husband's arm a slight shake, she ignored his peevish grumble and shook it even harder then smiled winningly when his eyes creaked open "Honey, remember how you asked me to put a couple of things for you in my story. Well how would you feel if I wrote the thing as if I'd interviewed you instead?"

He simply closed his eyes.

Giving him a poke then another, she smiled even more brilliantly when one eye flicked opened and fixed on her "Darling, it means I'd have to tell a big fat lie and the Blur will have to back me up. Do you mind?"

"Don't care." Turning over, he went back to sleep.

Taking that as permission to go ahead, Lois next bent her mind to the task of thinking up a plausible story that would pass inspection for how she'd managed to score an interview with the Blur and smiled like a cat that caught the canary several minutes later. Giving Clark a gentle pat in thanks, she chose to overlook his growl of "leave me alone" and setting her fingers on the keyboard, began to type.

oOo

_Next Morning - approx 7.30am_

Tapping her fingers nervously on her thigh while looking at her husband, Lois wondered what he thought of her article. Well article's actually. He'd insisted on reading the original and afterwards bitterly accused her of not gushing enough over his heroics. When she pointed out that she was limited to 500 words, he'd sniffed unappeased before turning his attention to her newest attempt which was far from finished but which she trusted him to tell her if it was any good or only good enough for the trash heap.

Unable to take the suspense, she ambled aimlessly into kitchen and stared outside the window. Autumn in Kansas was beautiful but it was naturally cooler than summer. She'd started wearing layers and had noticed Attila was now seeking the sun, instead of the shade when outside. All of which meant it was time to get him a couple of jumpers and a heated doggy bed, not to mention buying herself some winter gear too.

Living in San Francisco for the past 12 years, she hadn't needed snow jackets and wool coats but she'd certainly need them in Smallville. Oh gees; she'd probably also have to get herself some long johns as well. Great; exactly how was she supposed to turn her husband on wearing those things?

At the noise from behind, she whipped around to finding Clark looking at her "Well; what'd you think?"

"I like both of them babe. I think you should submit both when they're done and let Melvin decide which one he wants." He shrugged undecided.

Exhaling loudly in exasperation, she walked into the lounge to sit in the facing recliner but seeing the dog was already there comfortably asleep, took a seat on the couch beside her husband "But which one do you like better?"

"Well the first one which you don't like, I do because it gave me insight to your ordeal as the reader." He sat back and exhaled heavily "I've now got some idea of the fear you felt while waiting to be rescued. I mean you painted a pretty colourful picture of everything, including your fear for Angelo and how it felt after you were alone. I'll admit you were a little fulsome in your praise of me which makes me uncomfortable but when I look at it objectively, you were also pretty flattering towards all the others who tried to help, including that man Nigel who helped to keep you calm."

"Well I thought everyone involved deserved acknowledgment, so cutting it back to 500 words wasn't easy." She cleared her throat noisily "I may have gone a little overboard about the Blur though, so I can try and tone that down some." At his nod of thanks, she waved one hand "What about my new version? I know it's not finished but that's the one I like."

"I like it too but only because I get a chance to speak in it a lot more." He smiled crookedly "However, this one is purely about me and it reads like both an editorial and an interview. So if Melvin wants it, you're going to have to come up with a credible reason for knowing all this stuff about my alter ego."

"I've got one." She replied sassily "And since I intend to lie my ass off and you agreed to back me up, it's all good."

"When did I agree?"

"Last night; I woke you up and asked if you'd mind lying for me. Your exact response was that you didn't care. So I'll just explain how I managed to get an interview with the Blur to Melvin, sort of ambiguously mention it in the opening of my article without going into detail and voila." She smiled pleased with herself.

"So you need me to lie for you."

"Yep, well you and Oliver if he's asked to confirm." She amended lightly.

"Fine, I'll give him a heads up." Clark rolled his eyes but nodded obediently "Do you know why I'm not complaining? It's because I know you're only doing this for me."

"Well it seems wasteful to have a golden opportunity to allow the Blur to speak for himself and not use it." She patted his chest lightly.

Pressing a kiss to her temple in thanks, he asked smugly "So you wrote this one last night huh?"

"Mmm."

"It was the sex, wasn't it?"

Giggling, she cupped his face "Yep, afterwards I seemed to get this extraordinary burst of inspiration. So I retrieved my laptop and while you slept, I wrote."

Preening, he waved one hand modestly "You don't have to thank me."

"Why should I thank you?" Lois asked blandly.

Scowling, he reminded her moodily "Because I inspired you."

"Why didn't you inspire me before that?"

"Well you were being so mean and nasty that I didn't feel like putting out." He returned airily and without giving her time to respond, swept her into a long slow deep kiss. Releasing her reluctantly, Clark patted her hip in regret before standing them both up "I have to get to the farm babe."

Leaning against him, she lifted her face and smiled sultrily "Give me another kiss first."

"Do I have to?"

"Uh huh."

Several minutes later when both were breathless, he stepped back and shook his head to clear it "Why don't I come home for lunch."

"Why don't you." Following him to the door, Lois tugged on his arm and asked tentatively "Hon, do you really like what I've written so far is ok?"

"Lo, you're good at telling tall tales and you have a natural gift with words so yes but to save yourself time and aggravation, maybe you should go and see Melvin. Show him what you've written so far and let him decide which story he wants. Then you'll know which version to concentrate on." He advised directly. At her nod, he stroked one finger down her cheek "Just remember that I won't be happy if you get yourself all worked up again."

"If I start to feel a little edgy, maybe I should come over to the farm. I hear you've got a nice new tool shed that I wouldn't mind seeing." She swiped her tongue slowly over her bottom lip.

"I built it myself you know." He boasted proudly.

Trailing one finger down his shirt, she looked at him flirtatiously from under her lashes "I also hear you built a pretty sturdy work bench."

"Mmm and it has no splinters." He drawled enticingly.

She crooked one finger and when he bent down, whispered breathlessly "That's good, because I'd hate for you to get hurt."

Chuckling softly, Clark pecked her lips with his then turned his attention to the beast who was now dancing around their heels. Scooping up the mutt, he eyeballed the dog and mock growled "You're coming to the farm with me."

Attila growled in return and licked his nose.

"As soon as I've finished, I'll come pick you up and we'll go to the park, ok boy?" Lois cooed to the dog and took the furiously wagging tail as happy agreement.

After waving them off, she closed the front door and headed towards the bedroom to change. She was going to take her husband's advice and go see Melvin right now. Hopefully he'd be there already but if he wasn't there, she'd wait.

oOo

_Daily Planet – Approx: 9.30am_

"Sullivan!"

At the call of her name, Chloe looked up and seeing her editor Colin Lewis gesturing to her, made her way over "Yes boss."

"The big kahuna wants to see you."

"The big….you mean Perry White?" She asked feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement.

"Yep, let's go."

Following him into the lift, she wondered what he wanted to see her for and hoped it was because he'd noticed her work and wanted her closer to the action "Do you know what this is about?"

"Yeah but I'll let him explain." Holding out a hand for her to precede him from the lift when it stopped, the two walked towards the Chief Editors office in silence. Giving a brisk knock on the open door, Colin stepped inside with Chloe following.

"Ah good you're here, take a seat."

Once they did as requested, Perry got right down to business "Sullivan, Colin here tells me the woman on the news Monday morning, the one who was saved by the Blur is your cousin." At her nod, he asked curiously "Have you spoken to her since then?"

"Yes sir, I spoke to her a couple hours after it was all over; she's fine."

"Good…" He replied and got right to the point "Because I want her story."

"Her story." Chloe repeated blankly.

"Her story!" He confirmed solidly "When Colin first told me she was your cousin; I figured her willingness to sacrifice her life to help the window washer would make for a good human interest piece, but my focus was on finding the Blur and it seems that everyone else was of the same mind." His brow cocked up inquisitively "I'm sure you saw all the headlines yesterday." At her nod, he nodded unhappily in return "Every news station and every paper simply rehashed that story and wrung it dry; including the Planet but it seems that none of us tried to talk to your cousin, since all our stories were about the Blur's explosive coming out party with nary a word from her." He shook his head in lament and sighed in dejection "Clearly I wasn't the only one expecting the man to show his face all over town to get an exclusive interview with him, but it's been 48 hours now and that hasn't happened so your cousin ….what's her name by the way?"

"Lois Lane…I mean Kent, I mean Lois Lane-Kent." Chloe answered flustered.

"Right, well Lois is now the Planets best shot of turning the tide in our favour and getting the biggest story of the year."

"She is?" Chloe asked wide-eyed.

"She is!" He returned emphatically "As you know, articles about the Bur have been circulating for over a decade now and for the most part, they were only filled with speculation since no one could actually claim to have seen him, much less talked to him. On top of that, despite being asked countless questions about him, the JLA's stance on keeping his identity hidden to protect his privacy has only fuelled people's imaginations and their thirst for answers. But for the first time in history, he came out of the shadows and in a really miraculous fashion, saved your cousin Lois for the whole world to see and that's huge, Sullivan; HUGE!" Perry waved his hands expansively in excitement.

Getting caught up in his words, Chloe and Colin scooted forward in their seats as did Perry, who kept right on talking "Since the Blur seems to have gone to ground again and the JLA's only message is some claptrap about letting the man speak for himself when he's ready, Lois is a very marketable commodity right now. I can guarantee that every single newspaper in the city is going to be clamouring to talk to her to find out if he said anything worth hearing but the Daily Planet has an edge over all the others; you!"

When she sat up straighter, he smiled in approval "Being a relative of yours, I'm sure that Lois will want to give the Planet her story over everyone else and…." When her nose wrinkled, his eyes rolled "Don't knock nepotism Sullivan, it can sometimes be your best friend and in this case it's going to be ours."

Wanting to laugh at that but figuring he was serious, she nodded "Yes sir."

"Good, now if Lois is willing to give us the exclusive, then I'm assigning the task of interviewing her to you. However, this is not a features article it's going to be a front page story, so I want it on my desk no later than 3pm today so we can get it in the evening edition."

She sat back stunned "You want me to do it?"

"She's your cousin Sullivan, who better to interview her than a reporter she'll be comfortable with. Colin also tells me your work in Features is good and I'm willing to trust his judgement, so you've got the story but first I want you to call Lois and nail her down."

"Yes sir, I mean thank you sir, I mean….."

"Forget about all that Sullivan." He cut her off impatiently "I want you to get her answer and then get on the road toot sweet."

"Yes sir but um…what if she says no." Chloe asked hesitantly.

"I don't understand the word no and as a reporter, you'd better learn not to understand it either." Perry announced abruptly. Reaching over, he picked up the phone from its cradle and held it out "Call her now. If she balks, I'll talk to her."

"I've got my cell phone sir and her home number is coded in." Pulling her phone out of the pocket of her pants, she pressed the button and while listening to the dial tone, silently wished that she could make the call in private.

"Um, I'm just going to…." She waved one hand to the far side of the room, the men nodded agreeably and wandering over to the window, she waited for the line to be picked up.

At the sound of her cousin's voice, she smiled in genuine pleasure "Hi Lo, it's me Chloe."

"Hey Chlo, what's up?"

"Listen I'm sorry for disturbing you..."

"You not disturbing me; well you are but I needed a break from what I was doing anyway so it's fine." Lois threw in swiftly.

"Thanks, um how are you feeling now?"

"A little harassed and no I don't mean by you." She tacked on laughingly.

"Clark huh; is he fussing?"

"Fussing; I wish." She snorted loudly at that "It'd be more accurate to say he was pissed at me for doing something so brainless. Of course when he calmed down, he was also grateful to me for sparing him from having to do another press conference now that he's appeared on live television."

"I thought you were bravely stupid, not brainless." Chloe defended loyally.

Lois tinkled out a laugh "Well bravely stupid is a small step up so I'll happily take it."

At the loud coughing from the men, she cleared her throat softly "Um listen Lo; I know you're probably tired from everyone calling to talk about what happened on Monday…."

"I never get tired of hearing from people who care about me." She corrected firmly "It's the people I don't know who are calling that are starting to get annoying."

"What people?"

"Well I've had a million calls this morning from different papers who suddenly seem interested in talking to me and god knows why? Does anyone really think I know who the mysterious stranger is?"

"You do." Chloe murmured amused.

"But only a very select few know that." She retorted puzzled "As far as the average man on the street is concerned, the Blur swooped in and saved a total stranger from becoming street pizza. So trying to infer that I must have something going on with him is just plain idiotic."

"I agree."

On a roll, Lois continued contemptuously "If the Blur saving me is sufficient reason to imply we're having a torrid affair, then the first time he saves the world will also be the last time he saves anyone, since he'll be too busy after that trying to keep all his lovers happy."

Letting out a small chuckle, Chloe murmured "I concur."

"And that's precisely what I told that monumental twit before slamming the phone down earlier." She summed up in relish.

"So ahh…so the media have really been bugging you huh?" She swung around to make an 'eeee' face at the men but at their hands shooing her on, nodded obediently.

Unaware of what was going on at the other end of the line; Lois admitted grudgingly "Well I may have exaggerated a tiny little bit. I've only had one call but it pissed me off."

"Sorry about that."

"It's not your fault; it's just a shame that sleazy tabloid reporters, gives all reporters a bad name." She replied candidly "But I certainly don't include you in that condemnation or a few others that I know personally; like Melvin Banks, the editor of the Smallville Gazette. He dropped round to see me on Monday afternoon and you'll never guess what he wanted? Take a guess."

"Um well…."

"He wanted me to write a story for the Gazette about being rescued by the Blur."

"He did."

"Yuh huh and using a combination of sweetness and schmooze, he totally suckered me in. So here I am in my barely worn and very old reporter's hat trying to do just that." She summed up adroitly.

"You are?" Chloe asked weakly.

"Yep but I wasn't entirely happy with my first effort, so started a second and on Clark's advice went to see Melvin this morning to ask which one he prefers and he likes both of them." She groaned loudly and smacked herself in the forehead "Anyway, the first one is really just about my calamity and it's all from my perspective which he likes, but said it needs to be a little tighter. So he's going to edit it to remove any extraneous words or sentences, while I concentrate my efforts on the second." Taking a deep breath, she continued "That one only has a little bit about me in the opening, before it transitions to focus totally on Clark?" She came to a halt before rushing on "You don't have to worry that I'm going to undermine your article though Chlo. Mine's really just a kind of launching pad for Clark which covers what he would have sat at the press do, plus a few other details in reply to questions people might have asked. I hope you don't mind."

"Are you kidding, this works out perfectly for all of us." Lowering her voice further, she whispered "The only reason he was going to do the conference is because he didn't know which reporter to trust, after I turned him down. But since Clark knows you're in his corner, he doesn't have to worry and once he starts becoming a little more public, I'll have a reason for how I obtained the information in my article."

"Thanks Chlo." Lois sighed in relief "Anyway that's why I feel harassed. Melvin likes the story from my perspective because he likes the personal angle but he wants me to finish up this one too, so he can print them both. Unfortunately, this one's a bit more of a challenge because I'm trying to remain objective and it's not always easy."

"I know." She murmured in commiseration. When the men began talking loudly to get her attention, she cleared her throat again and asked "Um listen Lo, can you hang on for a minute?"

"Sure."

Pressing the hold button, she walked over to desk area where the men were seated and perched on the edge of her chair "Sorry Mr White, I just wanted to talk to Lois first; try and ease into our request." At his nod, she grimaced apologetically "Unfortunately, I think we might be too late. Lois said the editor of the Smallville Gazette dropped round to see her on Monday afternoon and asked her to write a story about her experience."

Perry's brow winkled in query "Is your cousin a journalist?"

"No sir, she worked very briefly at the Inquisitor but that was a long time ago."

"Hmm, well I'm not going to comment on the Inquisitor since I also did a stint at junk reporting years ago but….the Smallville Gazette did you say?" At her nod, he tapped his fingers on his desk meditatively "What is that?"

"It's the weekly paper that covers the local news for the county of Smallville and its environs." Chloe supplied helpfully.

"Well they're no rival for the Planet..." He scoffed disparagingly "So ask her anyway."

"Yes sir but um…she lives in Smallville so…"

"Who on earth would choose to live in Smallville?" Colin tossed in blankly.

She cleared her throat noisily "Well I grew up there but I was going to say that because Lois does, she might feel some loyalty to the paper."

Perry rolled his eyes "Small town people."

"Actually Lo's always lived in the city; she's only recently moved to Smallville because her husband lives there."

"Well then let's ask your big city cousin, if she's willing to give the story to a big city paper." He replied and pointed to the phone meaningfully.

Bobbing her head obediently, she clicked the hold button off "Lo are you still there?"

"I was wondering if you'd forgotten about me."

"No sorry, I just had to clear something up. Anyway, the reason I called is because my boss would like to get your story for the Daily Planet."

"The Planet?"

"Yeah, I mean you're the only person the Blur has ever saved openly, so it's pretty big news. Especially since the press conference has been called off, the JLA still aren't talking and the Blur seems to have gone into hibernation as well." She finished neatly and crossed her fingers when Perry gave her the thumbs up.

"Is someone with you?"

"Uh huh."

"I had a feeling…" Lois replied amused "Well we both know he hasn't gone into hibernation. At the first sign of catastrophe Clark will take off but since there hasn't been one, there's no point in him just flying around for no reason other than to have his picture taken."

"I know."

"And since he was intending to appear at the press conference, surely your boss knows that Clark is going to be round and about the minute he's needed."

"Yeah but we don't know when that will be Lo and besides; him saving you really is big news."

"You mean it's the only news since he's been off the grid since it happened." Lois asked frankly.

"Mmm."

"I'm sorry Chlo, I would have said yes if I hadn't already agreed to write the story for the Gazette but now that I've given my word to Melvin, I can't go back on it by talking to another paper. I hope you understand?"

"I do Lo but um….can you hang on for another second?"

"Sure."

Chloe made a face at Perry and shook her head "I'm sorry Mr White but she said no. She's already given her word to the Gazette, and won't renege by talking to another paper."

"She's turning us down for a small town rag." Colin squeaked astonished.

"Yes boss." She replied trying not to laugh.

"Does you cousin realise that the Daily Planet is the greatest newspaper in the world Sullivan?" He demanded incredulous.

"Yes sir." She repeated straight faced.

At a loss, he looked at the editor who was shaking his head "The woman has to be mad is all I can think." Perry muttered blackly before holding out a hand "Give me your phone. I'd like a chance to ask her myself."

Gingerly handing it over, she turned at her bosses murmur "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said that I'd love to hear her refuse Perry White." Colin repeated in a whisper "There aren't many who can hold out against him."

Having a feeling Lois could, she smiled nervously before sitting back to listen to the one sided conversation.

"Mrs Kent….sorry Lane-Kent…hmmm, ok Lois. This is Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet." He told her jovially "Your cousin tells me you're writing a story for the Smallville Gazette."

He listed to the response and smiled affably "Well that sounds real nice but I think a story like yours, which includes no less a personage than the elusive Blur, deserves to be on the front page of a national newspaper like the Planet and….." At her interruption, he scowled "Yes well, I'm sure the Gazette is all very respectable but it's still strictly small time and I'd like to your cousin to interview you…" At her second interruption, his face darkened "Yes, I know the article you're writing for the Gazette will have your name on the by-line but…." Knocking his fist on the desk, Perry glowered "How much is the Gazette paying you?" At her response, he smiled like a Cheshire cat "Well now, how about I offer to triple that amount; will that make you more amenable?" At her response, he glowered "No! What'd you mean no." Pushing back his seat, he paced around the desk furiously "What in the Sam hill do you mean by no?"

Wanting to laugh, Chloe whispered to Colin "I have a feeling Mr White's learning what the word no means."

He slid his eyes in her direction and murmured "I've gotta admit, I thought she'd cave."

Stomping over to the window and back again Perry continued trying to talk her into it via argument, cajolery and persuasion. Not getting anywhere but determined not to give up, he tried once more "Lois, the Blur is big news and…."

"I don't like that moniker any better than the mysterious stranger; I think they're both terrible." Lois interrupted unapologetically "Now that I've seen him and talked to him so know what he can do, I'm going to give him a handle that will really do the man justice."

"Like what?" He asked suspiciously.

"I don't know yet but whatever it is, it's gotta be better than those names." She replied airily.

"Hang on, hang on; you've talked to him! How; when?" Perry turned pale and tottering to his seat, fell into it.

"Oh well…." Lois burbled on giving him the story she'd cooked up "Anyway, he was more than gracious and gave me permission to use what he revealed in my story because well…."

"Because why, why?" Perry demanded grieved.

"Well not to put too fine a point on it, because some reporters have written stories that contain nothing but baseless accusations against him…." Lois began then quickly pulled the phone away from her ear when he howled in protest causing Chloe and Colin to simultaneously jump and shudder.

Eyes wide, his complexion almost puce Perry growled loudly "My reporters are all top notch!"

Feeling almost sorry for the man, Lois put the phone back to her ear cautiously "But how can he know that? I'm sure you heard that reporter who said Monday's mishap was convenient for the Blur."

"That wasn't a reporter; it was some muckraker on the TV." He condemned crushingly.

"Well it didn't help." She stated succinctly "Unfortunately he doesn't know which journalists really care about the truth and will ensure it gets printed, and which ones are only interested in making a name for themselves and will twist his words to suit their own agenda."

Wanting to grind his teeth in fury but knowing she was right, he nodded reluctantly "Fine, I agree with that but…"

"I will tell you that I don't believe the Daily Planet would ever lower itself to muckraking of any kind and he agreed." Lois added seriously and smiled at his muttered thank you "But he's still cautious and I can't blame him."

"Nor I." Perry agreed grudgingly.

"I'll also tell you that he hasn't gone into hiding again." Lois reassured truthfully "He told me his intention was to make his debut at the press conference but saw no reason for it after everyone saw him on TV. When I asked why he wasn't making himself visible now, the reason he gave made a lot of sense, so I'm going to put it in my article to shut up anyone who's bitching about it."

"What did he say?" Perry nudged curiously.

"Well he gave me a number of reasons. Firstly he can't save everyone because he's not omnipotent, and since he strongly believes that people need to try and help themselves so they don't become complacent, he's not going to rush in for no reason. Also, if he does swoop in 24/7 to save every kitten stuck up a tree or car accident from happening, he'll simply exhaust himself and likely be useless if or when a major tragedy does occur, and who knows how many people could die as a result. On top of that, his desire is to assist the emergency services not take over from them. As he said; those men and women have been doing an excellent job since long before he was born and will continue to do so long after he's dead, so who is he to push in and take over as if he knows better."

"Commendable." He admitted thoughtfully.

"I thought so." She agreed brightly "I liked the way he stated upfront that superheroes aren't the only heroes around. So many people forget that at times but he made it clear that he and the JLA don't. You've really gotta respect that. I'm thinking about kicking of the article with that quote; really grab the reader's attention y'know." Wondering if that was a low rumbling growl she'd heard, Lois paused for a beat before continuing "But anyway, my point is that the Daily Planet will get their shot at covering stories about him in future and if lucky, might even scoop another paper and nab him for an exclusive interview like I did. My story is only going to be in a small local newspaper and since I'm not a reporter it fits that medium, so it's all good."

"But it's your story that's going to be the first with information directly from the horse's mouth." He reminded her pointedly.

"Very true."

"And that information isn't going to be in the Daily Planet!" He rapped his knuckles on the desk heatedly.

"No it's not."

"So it's your story that people are going to want to read!" He ground out bitterly.

"Right and as one of them, you can read it in the Smallville Gazette when it comes out on Friday morning." Lois summed up cheerfully.

"_**WHAT! WHAT!"**_

Biting her lip at his bawl of outrage, she offered consolingly "Look, I'm sorry that I can't help you out but to make up for it, I promise that the next time I'm in Metropolis, I'll shout you a cup of coffee and muffin how's that?" Ignoring the bull like snort down the line, Lois smiled pleasantly "Um, I'd like to chat longer but I really need to buckle under and get back to work. Can I please talk to my cousin again?"

"But the article…"

She let out a little cough but otherwise made no other reply.

Giving up, Perry thrust out the phone with a glower "Here, she wants to talk to you."

Wanting to laugh, Chloe put the phone to her ear and almost choked at hearing the giggle on the other end of the line "Lo…"

"Hey Chlo, your editor's a riot. I'm looking forward to meeting him the next time I pop in for a visit." Lois supplied buoyantly "My dad's the only person I've ever heard yelling that many times in one phone call. Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry."

"That's ok."

"I'd better go; I've only got until 3 o'clock to get my story finished and believe me, I need every minute I can get between then and now."

"Ok, by Lo."

Clicking off, she smiled at Perry "She liked you."

"Liked me; hah!" He retorted unappeased "Your cousin has to be the most fool headed, stubborn woman I've ever spoken to. First she gets herself into a mess, then she gets herself saved from it and instead of giving the story to one of the most respected newspapers in the world, she gives it to a small town rag for a pittance." Taking a deep breath, his eyes narrowed and reaching over to his intercom, pressed the button for this secretary "Sandra, get me the editor of the Smallville Gazette on the phone."

"Yes sir."

"She said no. In all my born days I don't think I've ever spoken to a more hard-headed, perverse woman than Lois Lane." He muttered blackly.

Feeling less intimidated by the editor after hearing Lois laughing at his reaction to her refusal, Chloe advised brightly "My cousin is strong minded Mr White."

"Strong minded; hah! Ornery, that's what she is; ornery!" He growled and thumped his desk once again for emphasis, before retaking his seat feeling somewhat calmer "Kind of have to admit I like that and although I have to give her props for not backing down, I want her story for the Planet and if I have to hand over my first born son as a dowry to the editor of the Smallville Gazette to get it, then so help me I'll do it." He finished on a growl.

"Perry, I gather from your end of the conversation that Lois spoke to the Blur." Colin stated curiously.

"Yep."

"Ok but really, how long could she have talked to him for? I mean sure he flew her up to the roof but they couldn't have been alone for more than two minutes before the emergency personal arrived. So she couldn't have learned much about him and is probably just going to pad out her article with a bunch of foolish observations about how handsome he is, or some such feminine nonsense….no offence Sullivan." Colin threw out absently.

"None taken I'm sure." She murmured amused and made a mental note to tell Lois, knowing her cousin would have a good laugh.

At the editor's headshake, Colin frowned "Perry, the Planet's reporters are the best. If there's news to sniff out, they will. They're out there on the street beating the bushes for the Blur right now and the second he reappears; they'll nab him. So why don't we wait and see what they come up with, rather than promising god knows what to the Gazette for an article that will likely contain little more than ramblings from a star struck woman."

Perry kept shaking his head unhappily "Colin, the woman has beaten us to the punch. She didn't just chat to the man, she interviewed him."

"What? What'd you mean she interviewed him?" He asked stunned "How'd she manage that?"

"She said that she has contacts in the military." He replied and looked at Chloe for confirmation.

"She does Mr White." Chloe backed up her cousin swiftly "Lois spent the first 17 or 18 years of her life moving from one army base to another with her dad who's a general. So she has a multitude of contacts both in the military and out of it."

"Well she was smart enough to use one of those contacts to get in touch with the JLA, asking them to ask the Blur to contact her on a matter of some urgency." Perry sent them a droll look and remarked as an aside "The poor man must have thought she was going to sue the flashy spandex tights right of him, and instead finds out she wants to make him a megastar." Chloe bit the inside of her cheek to prevent the grunt of laughter from slipping out and ducking her head down, listened as the editor continued gloomily "Anyway when he contacted her, she apologised for causing him to miss the press conference, told him about her story then asked if he'd heard what that idiot said on TV and offered to give him a chance to speak for himself if he wished to do so and apparently, he did. She also asked him some questions while she was at it. So the upshot is that her story is not just going to be a nice little ditty about being saved by the newest superhero, but a factual account that contains information directly from the horse's mouth."

Colin sat back stunned "I take back what I said Sullivan, your cousin is good."

"Yes sir, she is. Anyone can write given the proper incentive and for the short time she was a reporter, Lois was good." Chloe admitted freely "She had no formal training, yet her lack of experience didn't seem to hinder her in the job at all. She's the one who brought the Green Arrow to the attention of the populace and from memory, I'm pretty sure that she's the one who named him as well."

"So she named the Green Arrow huh?" Perry stroked his chin in contemplation "Well then I suppose she can't do worse than the Blur or mysterious stranger."

"Perry?"

At the query in Colin's voice, he looked over and gave a half smile "She doesn't like either of those names, so is going to give him one that fits."

"Did she say what?"

"Nope but I have to agree that neither of them are any good."

"Well we couldn't call him anything else since no one had seen him." Colin remarked frankly.

"True, anyway I'm interested in seeing what she comes up with."

"I think she'll be determined to do right by the Blur given that he saved her life and all." Chloe put in tentatively "I mean he could have done the press conference and left it up to the professionals to try and help Lo, but he thought it was more important to save her life instead." Clearing her throat, she continued "On top of that, you know how the fire chief said Lois had been taken out the back way to avoid the media and the Blur had flown off in the opposite direction from the roof, which is why no one saw him afterwards?" When the men nodded, she smiled faintly "Well that was only partially true; when the Blur flew away he took Lois with him."

"What?" Perry and Colin exclaimed in unison, looked at each other then back at her.

"Yes sirs; see Smallville is three hours from here and Lois really wasn't in any shape to drive afterwards, nor did she want to face the reporters waiting on the street. So she asked the Blur if he'd mind flying her home, because she was also worried her husband would have an accident racing to Metropolis for her sake." Chloe paused and added "The Blur could have refused. I mean Lo wasn't in danger anymore but he did it to help her out, instead of going downstairs seeking the spotlight where the press were waiting for him."

"She asked him to fly her home." Colin asked dumbfounded "Your cousin has a lot of nerve Sullivan."

Chloe snorted out a laugh "You don't know the half of it sir but him doing it, instead of heading to the conference or seeking out the media afterwards, tells me that the Blur isn't a publicity hog."

"I agree." Perry replied simply "Well the Planet's reporters aren't a lot of layabouts but I'll give their collective asses a good kick to ensure we get the next exclusive interview with the Blur regardless. However, right now my priority is somehow talking the editor of the Smallville Gazette into giving me her story for the Planet."

"But why would he? I mean unless the man's an idiot, he's bound to know he's going one hell of a story on his hands and it's not one that I'd give up if asked; would you?" Colin asked forthright.

"Nope."

"So what makes you think he will?"

"I think it doesn't hurt to ask." Perry replied bluntly.

"And if by some miracle he does agree, he's probably going to demand the earth in exchange." Colin summed up grimly.

"Negotiation is all part of business." Perry shrugged carelessly "If by some miracle he agrees, I don't expect to get it for free. So I'm prepared to wrangle a deal where we'll both be satisfied with the outcome."

"Such as?"

"Who knows but since some newspapers are into sharing stories these days…."

"Not big news Perry, only the small stuff and if I remember correctly, your face became puce with outrage when the higher up's suggested the Daily Planet start doing it a few months ago." Colin cut in to remind him but was waved off.

"Details Colin and unimportant ones at that" Perry frowned mightily in concentration "First I'll try the good old boy schmooze routine and if that bottoms out then….hmm. Well he might just be happy with monetary compensation equal to the amount he could make, publishing the article in his dinky little backwards rag…."

"I don't think you should use that argument chief." Colin intervened hastily.

"Don't call me chief." He mumbled absently "We'd garner a lot more revenue publishing the first interview with the Blur on the front page of the Daily Planet in one day, than he's bound to make in a month of Sundays. So we can take a little hit there and in exchange be rewarded with the title of being the paper who managed to get the first Blur exclusive." His smiled turned razor sharp "Even if all he demands is for the Gazette to get the credit, the story will still be published in the Planet and that's what people will remember…." At the buzz of the intercom, Perry gave his head a shake "Yes."

"Melvin Banks, editor of the Smallville Gazette is on line one Perry."

"Thanks Sandra…" Before reaching for the phone, he sent the two sitting opposite a look "Let's hope he's more reasonable than your cousin." Picking up the receiver, he spoke jovially into the phone "Melvin this is Perry White from the Daily Planet…."

Putting the phone down when the call was concluded, he announced dryly "The man is just as much of a shark as me."

"But from the sounds of it, you got him to agree to give us the article chief." Colin grinned widely.

"Yep and the bargain we came to was pretty reasonable all things considered." He grinned widely in return "As soon as Lois emails the story to him, he's going to forward it onto me." Sitting back in his chair, Perry crossed his hands over his tummy "Mind you, it was only after we came to an agreement that he admitted Lois has written two stories. Apparently he asked her to write a personal account of her experience which she did and that's the one he's going to print. But chasing down the Blur for an interview was her own idea and is being written as a separate piece. So he's not losing out at all."

"Why wouldn't he publish both?" Colin asked surprised.

"He was going to, until I called and offered him a deal he couldn't refuse." Perry admitted frankly and kicking back in his seat, smiled lopsided "We all know that being the first to get the news out is of prime importance; it's publish or perish. However, when Melvin asked Lois to write her story, he really hadn't expected anything more than a nice little narrative that people in the community could enjoy reading. An article which focuses entirely on the Blur and includes an interview with him to boot, is a different kettle of fish altogether. The kind of buzz that story would generate is every editor's dream and he knew that he'd sell every copy he could print. Unfortunately, he only runs a small paper, so just doesn't have the resources to print the number of copies that would be in demand all across the country, after word got out about her article."

"So when you called, he played his cards close to his chest and managed to get a good deal for himself, before revealing that little nugget of information." Colin summed up with a wide smile.

"Yep." Perry made a slight face and admitted wryly "That'll teach me to assume a small town newspaper must be run by a hick from the sticks."

Colin and Chloe snickered in appreciation, while Perry continued talking "You know when I asked him why he got Lois to write the story, instead of having a staff reporter interview her, do you know what his response was?" Despite the question being rhetorical, they shook their heads and smiled when Perry's lips twitched "He asked if I'd ever heard the expression; it was professionals who built the Titanic and amateurs who built Noah's Ark, so it's not always the experts who get it right."

When their burst of laughter died down, he smiled lopsided "Melvin did confess that he'd initially intended for Lois to be interviewed by one of his staff but after reading a few of the articles she'd penned while working at the Inquisitor, he believed she could still deliver the goods herself even though it had been a long time since she'd last put pen to paper. So he decided to take the chance on an unknown because he thought a direct account from Lois, would make for more interesting reading than a story by another whose only contribution had been to watch her ordeal on television." Scratching his jaw absently, Perry pursed his lips in contemplation "Well I can't naysay that and having been in the business for most of my life, I know you've just gotta go with your gut and see where it takes you."

Slapping his hands together, he rubbed them eagerly "In this case his instincts were right on the money. While all of us professionals were busy chasing our tails looking for the Blur or asking the JLA questions about him which they refused to answer, Lois simply asked for him to contact her and took it from there, scoring herself an interview in the bargain. Now I just have to hope she proves Melvin right again and writes an article that's doesn't need a lot of fixing up before it goes to print for our evening edition."

"You will need to check her spelling and punctuation Mr White." Chloe advised seriously "My cousin has a way with words so I don't think you'll to be disappointed in the content, but her spelling was always shocking and I doubt that's changed."

"As an editor, that's something I see a lot of around here so I'm used to it." He waved one hand dismissively "It's the story I'm concerned with. If it needs a major re-write, we'll be hard pressed to make deadline." Cocking one brow in query, he asked curious "How's your cousin on deadlines?"

"Well um…." She coughed uncomfortably while thinking of what to say, then smiled pleased as the answer popped into her head "When her husband Clark gave Lois a month to organise their wedding, I asked her if she really thought she had a hope of doing it, and she grumblingly tossed out the old joke about liking the sound deadlines make when they swoosh by…" at the look on his face, she rushed on "…but she did it Mr White and the wedding was really beautiful. So I'm sure you'll get the story in plenty of time and it won't need any revisions." She finished and crossed her fingers behind her back for good measure.

"Wonderful, I'm counting on a woman who took a whole month to organise her wedding…" He grunted unimpressed "It'd take me less than an hour to do that, and I'd still have time to get the paper out as well."

And I can just imagine how lovely it would be Chloe mumbled internally and suppressed a shudder at the picture that blew up in her head of what the occasion would have been like.

"This is turning out to be a good day." Perry's smile beamed out and shined "Story by Lois Lane-Kent and photo by Jimmy Olsen; two people I'd never even heard of until two days ago. Someone up there must like me. The Planet is going to be on top tonight."

Grinning hugely in return, they got to their feet. Following her boss to the door, Chloe swung around and asked hesitantly "The story will still have Lois' name on the by-line won't it sir?"

"Yep, that was one of Melvin's stipulations and I was happy to accede to his request. I'll write a foreword thanking the Gazette for giving us the story but it's your cousin's name that goes on the by-line." His smile dialled up several notches "She offered to take me out for a cup of coffee in consolation after refusing my request, maybe I should offer to take her instead."

Chuckling at the wicked tone in his voice, Chloe told him honestly "Well Lois did say she was looking forward to meeting you sir, so I'm sure you'll get the chance before too long."

oOo

_Friday night approx: 6.30pm_

Expecting both her cousin and mother in law for dinner, Lois pulled open the front door and grinned hugely at seeing a copy of the Daily Planet being held up in front of her face.

Peeking around it, Chloe tapped on the title of the author under the headline screaming Superman. "Lookie here; know anyone by that name?"

Waving her into the house, Lois grinned. "I think that's considered old news now."

"Not according to Perry White, who's been kicking all the reporter's butts the last two days to get another Blur exclusive for the Planet" Chloe corrected cheerfully.

"Well I have to admit that I felt just as chuffed seeing my name on the front page of Smvallville Gazette this morning, as I did on Wednesday evening when it saw it on the Daily Planet" Lois admitted somewhat bashfully.

"You should, this is a great article Lo and my boss told me that Mr White only grumbled about your spelling and grammar, half a dozen times while reading it." Chloe announced and following her cousin into the lounge room said hello to Clark while taking a seat "I want to read your story in the Gazette; where is it?"

Retrieving a glass, Lois poured out some wine and handed it to her cousin before holding out the paper diffidently "This one's more about me Chlo."

Waving that off, she read the article and when finished, took a big gulp of wine. "Shit Lo, I was scared watching what was happening on television but this puts the reader right into your shoes. It's a good read but a little bit nerve wracking. Although I have to say I love the excuse you came up with for why you just happened to be in that particular building." She cocked one brow inquisitively. "So what was the name of the friend who worked there that you were popping in to visit?"

"Jane Smith."

"Couldn't you have come up with something better?"

"Not on the spur of the moment, no" Lois replied shamefaced. "So when anyone asks about my non-existent friend, I just say that I was unfortunately in the wrong building at the right time."

"And what if any of your real friends want to meet her?" She asked tongue in check.

"Then I'm afraid dear old Jane will have suddenly have skipped town without letting me know." Lois remarked tartly.

"In that case you're well rid of the bitch." Chloe condemned heartily "Ok, now first I have a gripe. I tried to write a story on the Blur before he saved anyone in dazzling style, so it's not surprising that I had a bunch of trouble but I want to know how you managed to do it and come up with a cool name for him so fast? What's your secret?"

"Me" Clark supplied helpfully.

Chuckling and blushing fiercely, Lois waved one hand in agreement "Him."

"Him…" Noting the self-satisfied look on his face, the light clicked on "You wrote it after getting some?"

"I was her inspiration" He puffed out his chest with pride.

"He sure was" She agreed willingly.

Smacking herself in the forehead, Chloe complained bitterly "I should have tried that."

"You still can; next time." Lois lifted her glass in salute.

Considerably cheered, she tapped their glasses softly "True."

"You'll have to find a man who doesn't mind you calling him filthy names while you're doing it though" Clark tossed in soberly.

Chloe laughed surprised "You swore at him."

Not giving her time to reply, he answered sadly "She sure did; the language that came out of your cousin's mouth…" Trailing off with a whistle, he took a sip of wine and sighed fitfully.

Discomfited, Lois leant over and drilled a finger into his chest. "Well it was your fault that I was feeling a little tense, so you get no apology for it."

"Who said I wanted an apology" He asked cheekily and gave her a slow suggestive wink in return. "The next time you need help with anything, just slip into any little see through number you have, and I'll be under the covers quick smart doing wicked..."

"For the love of all that's holy; don't finish that sentence" Chloe pleaded and awkwardly holding the glass against her ear, began to hum out loud.

Laughing, Clark mouthed "later" to Lois and call out loudly "You're safe Chlo."

Removing her hands cautiously, she smiled in relief "Thank goodness; now getting back to your story in the Planet…. "Turning to her cousin, she asked eagerly "I love the name Superman. How'd you come up with it?"

Sliding her eyes in her husband's direction, she smiled uneasily "Clark doesn't like it."

Astonished Chloe looked at him like he was crazy "Why not; I think it's great."

"Are you kidding?" He scoffed disdainfully "I feel so arrogant calling myself that."

"But you didn't call yourself that, I called you that" Lois replied patiently and lifted her eyes to the ceiling searching for help.

"Believe me when I say that doesn't make it any better" He retorted with a touch of sarcasm. "It's bad enough that I have to wear that cornball costume mom made me, now people are going to be calling me Superman." He shuddered lightly "What did I ever do to the two of you to deserve this?"

"Well I think the names perfect" Chloe announced frankly "You needed a name that's just as exceptional as you are..." At his grimace, she reached over and shook his arm impatiently. "You don't think of yourself that way Clark but there's no getting away from the fact that it's true. The way you saved Lois was dazzling enough but after reading her article and discovering that you can practically bench press a planet without breaking a sweat, not to mention all the stuff I'll be revealing after you become a little more public, the world is going to label you the ultimate super-hero, whether you like it or not."

His lip curled up in revulsion "I don't want to be the ultimate anything."

Lois quietly murmured, causing his smile to flash out sharp and bright "I've changed my mind."

Chloe glowered at both of them "I wasn't talking about sex."

"What makes you think either of us was referring to sex?" Lois asked innocently.

"Oh please!" She snorted in disgust.

"We're newlyweds; so we're supposed to think about, talk about and have sex 24/7" Clark informed her complacently.

"He's right Chlo, according to the newlywed handbook it's mandatory for us to be all over each other like white on rice" She backed him up swiftly.

He licked his lips and smiled widely at her in return "Who wrote the handbook babe?"

"Someone extremely smart" She smiled at him flirtatiously

"And smart people shouldn't be ignored" He agreed with a slow smile.

"No they should not" She replied sincerely.

"So it's imperative that we take a hands on approach to test their advice for flaws, don't you think?" He asked sagely.

"Definitely, we owe it to all the other newlyweds in the world" She returned straight faced.

"We're unsung heroes" He declared with fake modesty.

"Martyr's to the cause" Lois concurred readily.

"Making me sick" Chloe declared sourly and swept out her hands to indicate the coffee table. "Why don't the two of you just get it on right here, right now?"

"I'm game" Clark grinned and sweeping the magazines on the floor; picked up his wife and swiftly laid her down on the coffee table.

Laughing she rolled of and retaking her seat, asked her cousin asked sympathetically "Not getting any Chlo?"

"Not lately" She replied gloomily.

"Bummer."

"Tell me about it."

"Well don't worry; one day you'll meet someone special and we'll have calmed down by then" Lois reassured soothingly.

"No we won't" Clark negated like a shot.

"Sure we will" She refuted and gave him a sharp kick in the ankle hoping he'd take the hint.

Missing the hint and not liking the turn of the conversation, he glared and repeated emphatically "NO...WE...WON'T!"

"I'm being nice" She hissed and nodded minimally in her cousin's direction.

"Oh god, fake pity celibacy" Chloe groaned pitifully.

"Don't use that filthy word in this house." Clark squeaked alarmed and at his wife's fierce look, cleared his throat. "When that special man Lois said you're going to meet is nailing you night and day Chlo, the two of us will still be going at it like a pair of horny teenagers; so it's a win/win for everyone."

Lois threw up her hands and kicked him again.

"What was that for; I was being nice" He complained and shooting her a dark look, glugged down a mouthful of wine.

"Can we please get back to what we were talking about before; please!" Chloe asked plaintively.

"Sure…" He bobbed his head then frowned "Um, I've kind of got something else on my mind at the moment, so could you just refresh my memory?"

Dropping her head in defeat, Lois asked plaintively "Why didn't you just yell; I've lost the plot because my minds full of sex."

"I was trying to be discreet."

The two women stared at him astonished then looked at each other at a loss for words.

"What?"

At the belligerence in his voice, Chloe simply lifted her eyes to the ceiling "Forget it; ok we were talking about the name Superman…." At his sneer, she sighed but told him truthfully. "It suits you Clark, truly."

Looking between the two women, he smiled crookedly "Maybe I'll get used to it, I don't see how but maybe I will."

"If I remember correctly, you weren't too crazy about being called the Blur at one time either" She reminded him.

"Well I'll will admit I prefer the name Superman to that" He admitted grudgingly.

"See." Lois poked him in the side. "I told you that I'd never knowingly allow you to look foolish in public remember?" At his nod, her brow rose. "So why would I give you a name that could possibly do that?"

At the arrested expression on his face, she reached over and patted his hand. "The penny's beginning to drop huh?"

"I still don't like it but I'll try not to grumble about it anymore" He conceded and at her scoff, glared. "Fine, I'm actually praying it doesn't catch on."

"Too late" Chloe told him cheerfully and when his glare turned in her direction, she smiled sunnily in return.

"Well the name aside, I liked the way you didn't pull any punches against people who hold super-heroes in suspicion, yet weren't hostile towards them either" Clark told him wife frankly. "And I really appreciated the way you made it clear that I wanted to use my gifts for the benefit of mankind and was in the fortunate position of being able to do that, without making me sound special or superior."

She grinned and winked "You're special to me honey."

"What about superior?"

"In your dreams" She snorted rudely.

"I have lots of dreams and in most of them you're kneeling in front of me for one reason or another." He advised in a voice so lecherous she burst out laughing.

Coughing out her drink, Chloe looked at Clark with watery eyes. "Good grief but you're filthy minded."

"Aw thanks; it means a lot that you noticed." He waved one hand modestly.

Speechless, she simply swiped one hand over her chin and turned to her cousin. "Getting back to your story, I thought it was really clever how you slanted it in Clark's favour, yet managed to ensure that no one will be able to pick at you for it, by pointing out that Superman will be held just as accountable as any other super-hero or public servant in the spotlight when it comes to abiding by the law."

"Mmm and I'm glad you pointed that out because I'm sick of those reporters who try to make it sound like the JLA believe we're above the law." Clark simultaneously grimaced and grunted. "They don't bother pointing out if super-heroes really believed that, there'd be little to stop us from taking over the planet if we wanted to and the first people we'd dispose of, would be those ones who try to stir up trouble against us."

"They don't bother pointing that out because they're full of shit and they know it." Lois remarked candidly. "If they had valid arguments, I'm sure that more people would be inclined to listen to them, but so far all I've heard or read are unsubstantiated accusations that have no foundation. However I will admit that I deliberately put that bit in, not only to shut up those few but also as a reminder to the public and the JLA themselves."

Insulted at that, Clark challenged stiffly "The JLA is all about the law Lois, so why should they need reminding?"

"Because I really do believe that those in the public eye should be held to a higher standard than the common man." She replied calmly. "Power can corrupt even the most decent of people Clark and the ones in the spotlight do have power over the masses. They're the ones who set the tone, they're the ones people look up to and try to emulate, so they're the ones who need to be reminded." When his mouth opened, she held up one hand. "I mentioned all those in authority, not only the JLA but I'm not going to leave them out just because you're now one of them."

His lips twisted in acknowledgment. "You'll probably be more of a hard-ass because of it."

"I will" She admitted freely "But hon, if I didn't mention it while talking about the newest superhero, who's more powerful than all the others put together by the way; can you imagine the connotations some of those reporters who aren't in favour of the JLA would put on it."

Clark grimaced at that. "They'd have a field day."

"Yeah, they would." Chloe concurred steadily "They're troublemakers and even though they don't have a loud voice, they do have one nonetheless. So it's better to spike their guns from the get go, rather than working feverishly on damage control afterwards."

He nodded and reaching over and clasped Lois' hand "Sorry babe; I liked that you put it in, I guess that I just felt defensive because I didn't like the idea of you thinking the JLA would ever forget what they stand for."

"I don't believe the JLA will ever forget that but since it can happen to the best of people and the JLA aren't immune, I do believe it was necessary to spell it out so there was no room for misunderstanding." She stated unapologetically.

His lips crooked up at the corner "Not going to let us get away with anything huh?"

"If I cared about you less then I probably wouldn't bother but since you're of great importance to me, then nope."

Chuckling, he raised her hand to his lips "You going to be my conscience."

"From where I'm standing your own is functioning perfectly well; I'll just be the kick in the ass should you ever need it." She replied placidly.

"Thanks." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and opened his mouth to speak again but hearing a squeaky snarl from below, looked down to find a rotund ball of fur chewing on the hem of his jeans. Looking between his wife and her cousin, he noticed the laughter in their eyes and one brow rose in polite enquiry "How long has he been awake?"

"About 3 minutes" Lois answered straight faced.

"I've gotten so used to the little shit I didn't even notice." Bending down he tugged the mutt off and eyeballed him "Hey you, show a bit of respect…." Thumping himself on the chest, Clark announced emphatically "I'm _**Superman**_!"

Unimpressed, Attila's ears pricked up and he began to bark in his high-pitched doggy tone, while wiggling fruitlessly to be put down.

When her husband began to growl and howl deliberately egging the animal on, Lois turned to her cousin and remarked dryly "If the world could only see him now."

Snickering, she swallowed down a mouthful of wine before asking confidentially "You didn't only put that in because you felt it was necessary, it was also to protect Clark; wasn't it?"

Lois' brows scrunched together. "I don't know what you mean."

Taking a quick look to ensure Clark was still occupied with the dog, she remarked in an undertone "Well I noticed that you started the article by talking about Superman, before giving Clark the freedom to say what he wanted to. Then you asked him a couple of questions and finished the article by pointing out his values and responsibilities as member of the JLA." At Lois' nod, she whispered "It just seems to me that you were trying to ensure Clark's dedication to doing the right thing was made clear from the start, so it wouldn't be called into question in the future without sufficient reason."

"Well your reasoning is sound because I firmly believe everyone is entitled to fair treatment, and I did pace the article so the most important parts would stick in people's minds, but I wasn't trying to protect Clark because I don't think he needs me to do that." Lois refuted steadily "I just wanted to ensure his integrity slapped people in the face from the very beginning, and hopefully influence the way they respond to any articles that try to paint him in a negative light in future that's all."

Nodding slowly in understanding, Chloe smiled in return. "You put in a lot of stuff that I was too afraid to touch you know."

"What'd you mean?"

"I'm sure you remember that my attempt at writing a story for Clark's debut sounded like the ravings of a super-hero groupie?"

"It was nowhere near that bad." Lois refuted sternly

"I know but I did struggle for two weeks before giving up remember?" At her cousin's nod, Chloe's lips twisted "One of the reasons I struggled so much, was because I didn't have the guts to tackle things for fear of hurting his feelings."

"Chloe I struggled with writing about him too, believe me."

"Considering you haven't written anything in 15 years, struggling to get anything down for a couple of days is nothing and then you came back with a helluva bang." She returned dryly. Giving her cousin's hand a squeeze, she smiled crookedly "I told you that you had all the natural talents ace reporters are born with Lois and whether you choose to use that gift or not, it's still part of you. However the point I'm making now, is that you had the boldness to say what needed to be said and you weren't afraid that Clark wouldn't like it."

"Afraid no, concerned yes."

"But it didn't stop you." She pointed out mercilessly.

"No, it didn't stop me." Lois threw up her hands in defeat.

"That's what I mean Lo; even though I know Clark can be extremely cocky nowadays, when I was attempting to write my article, I kept remembering the multitude of insecurities he used to have and in particular, the one where no one would accept him if they knew the truth." She paused to take a breath and confessed low voiced "I didn't want to take the risk of stirring any of that up again, so shied away from mentioning anything that could potentially ruin his moment of glory now."

"Well you had to put up with that crap for years Chlo, so I can't say I blame you for being wary but to be honest, I wouldn't have taken it into consideration if it had occurred to me because he was just a boy back then." Lois shrugged offhand "He's now a self-confident man who knows his own worth and if he can't take a little heat from an article written by someone who's completely on his side, then how in the world can he survive the slings and arrows that are sure to come his way in future, from people who aren't."

"True, I'll keep that in mind myself." At the knock on the door, she got to her feet and pointed at the two brawling playfully on the floor. "I'll let Martha in while you break them up."

"They won't be happy with me if I do." Lois replied drolly and likewise got to her feet. "As much as it pains me to admit it; this is what constitutes fun in our house hold."

When Clark grabbed onto the dog's tail and jiggled it tauntingly, causing Attila to run in circles and snap at his fingers, Chloe looked at her cousin and remarked pityingly "You poor thing."

Nodding sadly, she waved towards the front door while heading to kitchen "You let Martha in and I'll get the dinner out of the oven. They'll stop needling each other long enough to eat when they smell food."

oOo

Authors note - In real life, one newspaper would NEVER give up a story of theirs to another. I know that some are into sharing stories these days due to the economy but they won't give up a hot story. However, in fiction anything can happen, so I hope no one minds that I've taken a little artistic license for this chapter.

Linda


	18. Chapter 18

Hi everyone

I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to get this chapter written. I had intended it to be the end but I still have to edit the last 20 pages that I've written to close of the story for good. However, I decided that since it's been way too long since I posted anything, that I'd post this part and hopefully get the rest of it up in the next few weeks.

Work, which has been sucking the life out of me for months now, is finally calming down. So with luck my brain (which has refused to do anything except vegetate on the weekends) will hop to so that I can get the last bit done swiftly.

Now this chapter is really just the beginning of the wrap-up for the story, so it's not exciting but I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

Linda

oOo

**7 months later: **_Saturday 10__th__ April - approx 10am _

"Are they here yet?" Clark asked walking into the kitchen but spotting the plate of mini muffins, he forgot his question and reached for one.

Lois took it from him, smacked his hand and put it back "Carol called not 5 minutes ago to say they'll be here soon, surely you can wait."

"I'm hungry." Taking a peek at the clock, he griped moodily "What's taking them so long anyway? It doesn't take 4 hours to drive from the Metropolis airport to here."

"Sweetie pie, they haven't seen each other in a month" She reminded him patiently "Now cast your mind back. What was the first thing we did when you came home, after being tied up with the JLA for a week back in February?"

His lips crooked up as his arms hooked around her waist "Do you think they're doing it in the car like we did?"

"Well let's see; I was driving home from the shops when you arrived home that day and since you couldn't wait for me to get home, you tracked me down and since neither of us could wait the 1 minute it would have taken you to zoom us home, we jumped into the back seat of my car and went at each other like a couple of wild cats." She paused to better appreciate the memory and knew by the look on her husband's face that he was recalling their antics with every trace of enjoyment. Tapping him on the shoulder to gain his attention, she finished tactfully "So as it's a 3 hour drive from Metropolis and we couldn't even wait 3 seconds, my answer is yes. They pulled off the highway somewhere and did it in his truck."

Uninterested in the last, Clark hummed in gratitude "Wildcat is right; you scratched and bit me all over."

"I did not scratch you but I did break three fingernails trying" She corrected mirthfully "You however, did bite me."

"It was a love bite" His lips curved and his eyes gleamed.

"Well that love bite didn't fade from my inner thigh for two weeks, so I'm lucky it was winter or I couldn't have gone swimming" She retorted pleasantly.

Preening, he began to comment again but hearing the crunch of tyres on the gravel outside, turned to give the occupants of the car a quick looksee, before turning back to his wife amused "You were right; they did it. They're both looking flushed and mussed."

Laughing, she gave him a soft whack on the arm "C'mon, let's go meet them."

Stepping into the lounge room, she twitched aside the curtain but seeing their friends standing in the driveway talking instead of heading towards the house, frowned in concern "Does it look like they're arguing to you?"

Taking a peek, Clark shook his head "Nope, but I wouldn't be surprised if Dean's asking Carol why she stays with us when she comes to Smallville instead of with him."

"Because she's my friend" Lois replied absently while trying to read the lips of the couple talking outside.

"But she's his girlfriend, so why isn't she staying with him."

"Because she wants to stay with us."

"She's sleeping with him, yet staying with us…" He looked at his wife and remarked drolly "She reminds me of someone else I know who didn't mind tearing up the sheets with me but refused to spend the night. Is this some kind of kinky thing women from San Francisco are into?"

"Stop it!" Laughing, she smacked him lightly on the back "In case you haven't noticed, she has spent the occasional night with him when she's here."

"Yeah and it's been so occasional that I've had him bitching in my ear about it and asking for pointers on how he can change the status quo, since I managed to get you to live with me at the farm so quickly." At her snicker, he flicked his wife another look and said tongue in cheek "I didn't want to disillusion him by confessing that you insisted on sleeping in mom's room, so told him that I had to fight you off many a night just to catch forty winks and he should consider himself lucky not to be in the same boat."

Guffawing out a laugh, she shook her head "Why didn't you just tell him the truth?"

"I couldn't tell him the truth, how would that look?" He asked blankly.

"Men!"

"Women!" He grunted in return "And now my poor buddy's in the same predicament that I was less than a year ago."

"He is not, besides Carol's reasons are just as valid as mine were."

His brow cocked up interested "Is she like you?"

"Nope."

"Explain."

Dropping the curtain, Lois turned to him and held out a hand in explanation "See Carol knows that being a farmer, Dean's busiest time is in the spring and summer and his quietest is in the autumn and winter; with me so far?" At his nod, she nodded in return "Right, well since they met in the autumn their relationship has been conducted during the winter months until now, which is why he's been able to get away for the odd weekend to visit her in San Francisco. However quiet time or not, she knows that a farm doesn't run itself and he can't neglect it just to dance attendance on her when she comes to visit. So she thought that by staying with us, Dean wouldn't feel guilty for ignoring her to work the farm, nor harassed about all the work he has to catch up on after she leaves, if he ignored the farm to spend time with her. And this also gives her the opportunity to try Smallville on for size and see what she thinks without a haze of lust or love making her dopy, which could happen if she stayed with him."

Figuring that only a female mind could come up with such convoluted twaddle, Clark asked dumbfounded "What kind of cockamamie logic is that?"

Insulted, Lois defended loyally "It's not cockamamie, it makes sense."

Narrowing his eyes, he pointed accusingly "You came up with it."

"I did not…" Feeling her cheeks get pink under his stare, she coughed uncomfortably "Ok I did, but only because Carol asked for my advice." When he just continued to stare, she wiggled uncomfortably "She really liked Dean a lot but she didn't want to just dive in and either regret it or ruin things, so asked me what I thought since I was lucky enough to marry the man of my dreams." His brow cocked up mockingly, causing her to mutter defensively "I didn't say that, she did. Anyway, I told her that my decision not to break my rule and sleep with you was really smart because it gave us the chance to see if our relationship was going anywhere…" Lois paused and amended thoughtfully "Not that either of us actually wanted a relationship at first but that's beside the point. I told her that it gave both of us some breathing room, not to mention a quick exit if everything went south and since we weren't missing out on sex, it was all hunky dory and we fell in love and look how happy we were. So she thought it sounded like a great idea and decided to try it too."

Clark blinked and his mouth opened but no words came out.

The pleased smile on her face fell off "What?"

Unable to speak, he turned and began to softly bang his head against the wall, disregarding his wife's entreaties not to put a dent in it.

Leaving him to it, Lois left pulled open the front door and cocked her head to the side, trying to hear the conversation of the couple still standing in the driveway. Giving up, she tapped her husband on the shoulder "What are they saying?"

"How should I know?"

"Stop banging your head and listen."

Knowing if he didn't pay attention she wouldn't give him any peace, Clark peered outside "I haven't got a clue."

"Hello; super-hearing" She nudged pointedly.

"No!"

"Carol won't mind, she's my friend."

"No!"

"She'll just tell me later, so it's not like you'll be doing anything wrong" Lois wheedled persuasively.

"No!"

"I don't see what good super-hearing is, when you don't even use it" She muttered in disgust before calling out chirpily "Hey you two; are you coming inside or not?"

Swinging around at her voice, Carol and Dean smiled at finding the Kent's observing them curiously then repressed a chuckle when Clark called out apologetically "Sorry for the interruption but if you don't come inside, Lois will join you out there and stick her nose right into your business."

"I was trying to be helpful since they hadn't even noticed that it's started to spit" She retorted haughtily then poked out her tongue in triumph when it began to drizzle almost before she'd finished speaking.

oOo

_Half an hour later_

Finishing his coffee and cake in record time, Dean placed his cup down and brushed of his hands eagerly "Thanks for morning tea and now we have to go."

Getting to his feet, he sent a hopeful look towards his girlfriend and rolled his eyes when she remained seated and continuing chatting with Lois. Sharing a longsuffering look with Clark, he coughed pointedly "Carol, you're only here until Monday night remember?"

Nodding absently, she kept right on talking.

"So we need to make the most of our time together" He continued loudly. When she still didn't pay him any mind, he coughed and nudged grouchily "You'll see Lois later since you refuse to stay with me."

Holding back a smile, Clark set down his cup and likewise getting to his feet, tried to butt into the women's conversation "Babe, I think Dean wants to spend the day alone with Carol, not here with us."

"Uh huh…" She bobbed her head and finished her story before picking up the knife "Who wants more cake?"

Before Carol could reply, Dean simply scooped her out of her seat and ignoring her squeals, strode to the front door "Don't worry Lois, I'll bring her back safe and sound later tonight but don't wait up because I don't know when that'll be."

Blinking rapidly at the spectacle, she began to chortle with laughter and jumping out of her seat, followed them while waving goodbye.

"Should I ask what your intentions are?" Clark called encouragingly.

"The same as yours were once upon a time" Dean called back and stepping out the front door, growled at the woman in his arms "Stop squirming gorgeous, you had your chance. Now we're doing things my way."

Closing the door, Lois turned to her husband with a brow quirked inquisitively "When was the last time you did that to spend some quality time with me."

"We're married now, so I don't need to do that" He retorted pleasantly.

"You're taking me for granted" She gasped insulted.

"I am not; Dean's only fussing over Carol because he doesn't get to see her daily." Seeing her pout, Clark frowned ferociously. "I'm going to punch him in the face for making me look bad because I don't fuss over you anymore."

When she simply huffed unimpressed, he rolled his eyes to the ceiling before sweeping her up into his arms "Satisfied!"

Hooking her arms around his shoulders, Lois nodded happily "Where are you taking me?"

"Bed!" He informed her bluntly.

Giggling, she kicked her feet playfully and grasped onto the lobe of his ear with her teeth.

Looking down at the beast woofing at his feet, Clark raised one brow "Beat it pal, but this is a game for two and you're not one of them."

Yipping in disappointment but knowing they'd be back for him afterwards, Attila trotted to the kitchen and slipped out the doggy door to sun himself on the enclosed back porch.

Stepping into the bedroom, Clark kicked the door closed and set Lois down on her feet "Now let's see if I can still make you dopy with lust."

Her arms looped around his waist, his around hers as lips met in a series of fleeting teasing pecks that became longer presses then more deliberate deeper kisses while hands became busy caressing and fumbling with shirt buttons and zippers.

Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, Lois grasped the bottom of Clark's shirt and pulled him towards her. Humming in pleasure when he knelt on the edge, she smiled at him sultrily then frowned uncomprehending when he groaned loudly in disappointment "What's wrong?" Hearing the sound of his cell-phone ringing, she looked at him in disbelief "Now you decide to use your super-hearing; NOW!"

Knowing that particular chime meant the watchtower was on the other end, he pressed a kiss to her brow in apology "Sorry baby, it's the JLA."

Understanding, she fell back among the bed covers and waved one hand for him to answer.

Pulling out his phone, Clark listened as Oliver told him about the situation for which is help was required, while staring at his wife lying atop the crumpled bedcovers clad only in her panties. Feeling himself swell at the sight, he cut in shortly "I'll be there in a minute" and hanging up, announced gruffly "Don't move a muscle; I'll be back before you know it."

Leaning up on one elbow, Lois tilted her head to one side "What's going on?"

Reminding himself that he should now be used to the sight of her in all stages of dress and undress did nothing to cool his ardour. The long toned legs that caused fantasies to dance in his head of them wrapped tight around his waist. The womanly body that promised and delivered so much, the rich full breasts that moved with every breath she took, the… licking his lips, he stared and continued silently…the nipples playing peek-a-boo between the strands of her tousled hair. Feeling his mouth water at the vision lying before him, he stood there ogling his wife forgetting that he was supposed to be on his way.

"Clark." Lois waited a beat then called again "Clark!"

Dragging his eyes away, he shook his head "What?"

"Shouldn't you be going?"

Nodding abruptly, he zipped to the cupboard to grab a suit then swung round alarmed at the sound behind him. Seeing Lois getting to her feet, he raced over and plucking her up, tossed her back down onto the bed "Don't move! As soon as I finish doing whatever the hell they need at the watchtower, I'm coming home to do you." Zooming of before he could change his mind to stay, Clark headed towards the arctic for a quick swim cursing the rotten timing of it all.

Chuckling softly, Lois flopped back among the bedcovers and wiggled in contentment at the look on her husband's face when looking at her. She knew that he could be gone for hours but wasn't inclined to defy his edict on the off chance he'd return in 10 minutes, and reward her handsomely for being so obedient.

oOo

_Approx: 1.55pm_

Returning home three hours later, Clark pulled open the screen door leading to the enclosed back porch and smiled when Attila hopped of his day bed and ran towards him, yipping eagerly with enthusiasm. "Hey boy; did miss me?" Seeing the empty food bowl, he nodded unsurprised "I see, you want food." However, knowing his wife wouldn't let the mutt go hungry for even a minute, he scanned the house concerned until finding her fast asleep on the bed, changing the concern into delight.

Giving the beast a pat, he announced cheerfully "C'mon boy, let's get you sorted; I've got things to do."

Trotting into the kitchen Attila woofed joyfully while dancing around his feet, causing Clark to quickly sweep the animal up and cup his hand gently over the dog's mouth "Shhh, I don't want to wake her up just yet."

Trying to nip at the fingers cupping his face, Attila let out a muffled bark and squirmed earnestly in protest.

Dashing back and forth hurriedly, Clark ensured the animal had enough toys and food to keep him entertained for the next little while and leaving the beast to gorge himself rapidly making tracks to the bedroom.

Stepping soft footed into the room, he silently undressed while looking his fill at the sleeping beauty curled up in the middle of the bed. Retreating noiselessly to the en-suite for a quick shower, he returned to crawl carefully over to her side and carefully turning her onto her back, he rubbed his thumb gently over the nub of one breast before leaning down to close his mouth over the hardened tip, while his hand swept over her tummy before burrowing under the scrap of lace riding her hips.

oOo

Coming awake fiercely aroused, Lois gasped at the feeling of Clark's hand in the notch of her legs, his mouth clamped around the other and thoughts of sex running rampant through her head.

"Shut up!" She half growled, half laughed.

"Mmm." Lifting his head, he slanted his mouth over hers and slid his tongue inside while smoothing his hand over her tummy.

Wrenching her mouth free, she panted against his throat "Stop thinking!"

Refusing to do as asked, he dragged his hand free to deliberately sweep his thumb down the column of her spine and letting out a low laugh at her shiver, rolled onto his back, taking her with him "You can take charge from here but my mind's staying actively in the gutter."

"I can hear it in the gutter" She reminded him plaintively.

"I know" He retorted wickedly.

Wanting to smack him, wanting to giggle, she tried to block his thoughts from her mind but couldn't "Will you get out of my head?"

"You took me on for better or worse" He sing-songed tauntingly and placing his hands on her waist, lifted her up "Can you tug your panties off sweetheart, my hands are full."

Trying to shake her head clear, she frowned uncomprehending "What?"

"Your panties" Lifting her a little higher, he pressed a kiss on the silk covering her mound before grasping onto the elastic with his teeth and began to tug "These are pretty but they need to go."

Chortling with laughter at the garbled demand, she ruffled his hair and reached down to do as asked then stopped as her eyes widened in alarm "Oh my gosh; put me down quick."

Worried, he did so and began running his hands carefully over her waist while babbling out apologies "I'm sorry baby you know I was only fooling around. Did I hurt you? Was I holding you too tight?" When she didn't reply, he whispered fearfully "Did I overload your mind with dirty thoughts?"

"I think Carol's back" She revealed confidentially.

He blinked uncomprehending "What?"

"Carol, I think she's back" Lois repeated slowly.

"You scared the shit out of me because you thought Carol was back" He closed his eyes and prayed for patience.

"I heard the front door open" Lois insisted low voiced.

I don't care if you heard a choir of angel's singing he thought silently but determined to salvage the situation and not allow anything to upset their apple cart this time, advised placidly "She probably just stopped by to get something."

"Like what?"

"Who cares but if we stay real still and don't make a sound, maybe she'll think that we've gone out and won't hang around" He told her quietly then scowled when instead of doing as suggested, Lois slid of the bed and scooted to the closet.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed" She replied softly and began to rummage in their closets.

Throwing up his hands while her back was turned, he smiled charmingly when she swung back with her arms full of clothes for both of them "Kitten, we don't need clothes for what I have in mind."

"Kitten" She repeated dreamily.

"You like that?" He asked softly, holding out one hand enticingly.

Smiling bashfully, she dropped the clothes on the floor and moved towards him with hand outstretched, only to come to her senses when she stumbled on the pile now lying at her feet.

Seeing her eyes sharpen, Clark cursed silently but called smoothly, temptingly "Kitten."

"Don't you kitten me" Lois snorted indelicately, and tossing his clothes on the bed, tugged on her own "Get up and get dressed."

Instead of rising, he patted the spot beside him and drawled suggestively "Why don't you get undressed and come back here."

"Shhh!"

Giving up the lover routine, he muttered in a sarcastic stage whisper "Lois I'm sure Caro,l knows that we have sex. Now why don't you come back here, so we can prove her right?"

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, she chewed her fingernail worriedly "If she's back this early, there must be something wrong, she probably needs to talk to me."

"There's something wrong alright but it's not with Carol" He mumbled the last bit under his breath.

"What do you think it is then?" When he simply fell backwards and clutched a pillow to his face, she leant over and pulling it aside, whispered "I hope she and Dean didn't have a fight; they're so perfect together"

"Yeah perfect and worrying about their relationship right at this moment, is perfectly fucked up if you ask me" He grunted heartlessly.

Shushing him, she crept to the door and pressed her ear against it "I can't hear any crying but she's being awful quiet…." Frowning, Lois bit her lip in vexation at not being unable to hear anything but muffled sounds beyond the door. Holding out one hand behind her, she asked softly "Can you get me the mouth wash glass from the bathroom, maybe if I press it up against the door, I could hear better?"

Groaning quietly, Clark stayed where he was and pressed the pillow harder against his face.

Not feeling a glass being slipped into her hand, she exhaled impatiently and sqinched her eyes shut to concentrate better "Hang on, I'm pretty sure I just heard Dean's voice, so if he's here it can't be bad unless they're arguing but surely they wouldn't come back here just to do that. I wish that I could make out more than a word or two but…." Concentrating harder, she bit her lip then spun around to announce quietly relieved "I'm pretty sure that I just heard them laughing."

"Well I'm glad they have something to be happy about, because I sure don't" Clark uttered sourly. However, finally accepting that he wasn't going to be getting any when his wife hissed at him to once again get dressed, he heaved himself of the bed and tugged on the t-shirt and sweatpants she'd so thoughtfully provided.

oOo

Following his girlfriend into and through the Kent house, Dean looked around for either Lois or Clark but finding only empty rooms, smiled devilishly at Carol's back. Slipping an arm around her waist, he murmured persuasively "It looks like they've gone out. So why don't we catch up with them tomorrow and spend the rest of the day becoming reacquainted with each other at my place?"

"We became reacquainted in your truck earlier remember?" She reminded him primly "So why don't we try something really wild now and try communicating the old fashioned way."

"Ok but if they walk in and catch us, remember this was your idea." Stepping forward, he pressed her up against the wall and began to playfully gnaw on her neck.

"Stop it you idiot…" Carol pushed him back an inch and grinned into his face "I said the old fashioned way, meaning that we could sit in the lounge room and talk while waiting for Lois and Clark to get home."

"Ohhh, when you said the old fashioned way, I thought you were talking about the oldest game in the book and when you said wild, I thought you meant we should do it standing up this time." Stretching lazily, he dropped his lids to half-mast and sent her an inviting smile "Talking is such an exhausting thing to do, especially on a full stomach and after that big lunch we've just eaten, I think we should have ourselves a siesta."

"I'm not sleepy."

"I can do stuff to make you sleepy."

"Stuff?"

"Mmm hmm."

Licking her lips, she challenged breathlessly "Like what?"

"Well…." Leaning forward, Dean whispered a suggestion that caused Carol's eyes to go round even as she reminded him with a titter of laughter "It's the middle of the day."

"Yes, yes it is" He agreed and rocked lightly on the balls of his feet.

Feeling tempted she chewed her lip in deliberation "But I really want to tell Lo our good news and…"

"You can ring her later" He cut in smoothly.

"Don't you want to tell Clark?"

"I'm sure his priorities would be the same as mine right about now" He returned without pause.

"Ok" She agreed but at his twinkling smile, held up one hand "Let me just leave Lois a note about calling her later while you grab my stuff…."

"Angel face, the only stuff you need is toothbrush and being a good little boy-scout back in the day, I bought you a new only the other day" Holding up his fingers in homage of the renowned sign, he vowed solemnly "Trust me, you won't be needing any other stuff."

"That is not the boy-scout salute" She accused laughingly "I bet you never were one."

"What does it matter, I did get you a new toothbrush after all so deserve a merit badge for that at least." Placing one hand on her back, he urged her towards the front door "Now let's forget about your stuff, stop talking and go before they come home."

Hearing a door open inside the house, they frowned at each other and stepped into the hallway to see Lois hurrying towards them with Clark trailing behind.

"They look happy" Lois murmured quietly and ignoring her husband's crisp retort, called out in greeting "Hi, so did the two of you have a nice time?"

Noting the flush on her face, the scowl on Clark's and what were undoubtedly hastily tossed on clothes, Dean murmured in Carol's ear "I knew that I shouldn't have let you talk me into coming back here this afternoon."

Likewise noting the signs that they'd inadvertently interrupted, she grimaced in apology but was unable to contain her excitement "Guess what?"

"The two of you have atrocious timing" Clark growled feelingly and oblivious to his wife's elbow in the side, asked without preamble "What are you doing back here so soon?"

Understanding his less than welcoming mood but unable to contain her excitement, Carol replied unoffended "Don't worry, I promise to get out of your way in a min…."

"You're not in our way at all" Lois interrupted swiftly and turning to Clark, flared her eyes at him in warning "_**Is she**__?_"

Knowing that if he dared to ignore the glare in her eyes and countermand her words, it would piss her off royally and earn him a one way ticket into the dog house, he stretched his lips into a smile "Lois is right; you're never in our way Carol." Turning to his friend, he glared in turn "But maybe next time you say that you won't be bringing her back until late…."

"Say no more buddy, it will never happen again" Dean winced sympathetically while patting Clark on the back in apology.

Backing him up speedily, Carol replied emphatically "Never, especially since I'll be staying with Dean from now on."

"I'll get your things" Clark announced eagerly.

"You don't have to do that" Lois protested loudly at the same time.

At the amused looks thrown at them from their friends, Clark cleared his throat but refrained from taking back his words or trying to smooth things over, while Lois had the grace to blush rosily and continued hurriedly "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you were making a sacrifice staying with Dean because I know you're not but I want you to know that you're welcome here anytime you like." Turning to her husband, she appealed "Tell her Clark."

"Babe, since Carol comes to Smallville to be with Dean, then it's about time she stayed with him instead of us don't you think?" Seeing the traitorous look on her face, he offered hopefully "Why don't I get everyone a drink."

"You'd better make it champagne" Carol announced happily and at Lois' wide-eyed stupor, screeched in excitement "I'm moving to Smallville."

Screeching in return, Lois threw her arms around her friend and as the two women jumped up and down with enthusiasm while babbling to each other, the men looked at each other and quickly made tracks to the kitchen.

"Um question…" Unsure if he was about to touch on a sore subject, Clark coughed lightly before asking somewhat hesitantly "Carol didn't say you were engaged but I know that you were going to propose; so what are we celebrating exactly?"

"We're celebrating the two of us shacking up together" Dean replied with a huge smile.

Seeing the genuine happiness on his friends face, his shoulders relaxed "So you didn't propose and was shot down then?"

"I did propose and believe you me, I was so romantic that you would have said yes" Dean confirmed openly "But Carol said that since we've only spent weekends together over the last six months, our relationship was still in the newlywed phase." Clark's brows rose questioningly, causing him to continue in a voice of long suffering "I know, I pointed out that we weren't married which is what I was aiming for, to which she said that being married had nothing to do with it. Then she went into a whole spiel about how we were still in the puppies and rainbows stage of our relationship and crap like that. What the hell they have to do with anything is beyond me. Frankly, I would have thought letting me see her without makeup was the big test but noooo, apparently me calling her beautiful without it was just the icing" He muttered the last as an aside and continued with a head shake "All I can advise is to never try and understand feminine logic my friend, it's impossible. The only part of her speech which I did understand is that she loves me madly and is willing to give up her life in San Francisco to come here and live with me, so I'm certainly not complaining."

"In that case, I'm happy for you buddy; Carol's a terrific woman." Giving his friend a slap on the back, he waved towards the wine rack in the corner "Unfortunately we don't have any champagne but if you grab a bottle of wine, I'll get the glasses."

Nodding Dean turned to do so but was stopped when Lois whirled into the kitchen and embraced him tightly "I'm so happy for both of you."

"Thanks" Looking over at Carol who was standing at the doorway, he winked "I'm pretty happy for us too."

Slipping an arm around the pretty blonde's waist, Clark pulled her in for hug before cocking a brow at his friend "I'll trade you yours, for mine."

"Done" Handing over Lois to Clark, Dean grinned when Carol scooted into the circle of his arm and proposed chirpily "Why don't the two of you come to our place for dinner tonight?"

"Are you sure you don't want to be alone?" Lois asked looking between them.

"You heard her Lois; dinner's at our place tonight" Dean reiterated with a wide smile "But don't take offence if I kick you out early."

"We won't and don't you take offence if I kick you out right now" Clark announced freely but at the clenching of his wife's hand on his waist, he lifted his eyes to the ceiling "Ok, I'll be more polite. Dean, hurry up and grab the wine so we can have a drink to the pair of you, and then get out."

"Happy to" He replied jovially and turning for the rack, did as instructed while the women smiled proudly at their men.

oOo

_3 months later – San Francisco - Anne and Lois' house: approx 7pm_

Quickly sipping to reduce the amount of champagne from her plastic cup before any could be lost, Lois swiped one hand over her chin, before holding the cup aloft "To us and the nice big pile of money we've made selling most of our assets."

Tapping the cups together gently, Carol and Anne echoed the sentiment and drank deeply of the golden liquid.

"Have I told you how happy I am that you're moving to Smallville with me?" Carol asked Anne touched.

"And have I told you how happy I am that you're both moving there?" Lois buzzed excited.

"You're there because of Clark…." Anne reminded her swiftly, then then turned to Carol and remarked dryly "And you're moving there for Dean; what am I getting out of this again?"

At the question, the two looked at each other then turned back to her and replied as one "Us."

"You mean I'll get some peace from being hounded by both of you to move there" She asked drolly.

"Yep" They confessed in accord, causing her to smile widely in return.

"Well it didn't take much coaxing" She admitted sincerely "Admittedly I haven't spent as much time in Smallville as Carol over the last 9 months but the few times I have visited, the people have been so friendly that I haven't felt like an outsider at all. So given the choice of staying in San Francisco by myself or moving to a small town where I'll be closer to both of you, and a part of a warm neighbourly community isn't a hardship for me."

"And I'm sure that aside from the women you've both made friends with, that there are a number of men who'll be more than eager to make Anne feel very welcome" Lois replied solemnly.

Anne's eyes twinkled in return "Which is yet another point in its favour."

"Just think, in a couple of days Carol will be setting up house with Dean and you'll be settling into the Murphy house that Clark and I vacated when we bought the farm next door to his mom." Grinning foolishly at both of them, Lois took a sip of champagne "We're all going to be no more than a ten minute drive from each other."

"Although it won't be the same as when we were living the single life here, I have to admit that I'm excited; it's like a whole new adventure" Anne tossed in cheerfully.

"Yeah, and apart from everything about it being fantastic, just knowing that with Carol living in Smallville I'll never have to drive all the way to Metropolis for a facial or a body wrap or any of that beauty therapy I love to indulge in ever again, is enough to make me weep with joy." Lois grabbed her friends hand and squeezed it "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Welcome and this works out great for me too because I finally get to be my own boss. Well a co-boss with Tina, since we'll both own the salon but still…." Doing a jaunty little wiggle Carol, took a sip of her drink and grinned widely "You'll never guess whose idea it was for us to go into business together?"

At the curiosity on their faces, she leant forward and whispered fake loudly "Dean's." Sitting back, she chuckled at the surprise on their faces, and crossed her heart solemnly "I swear. The day he proposed, he gave me this really long speech on all that Smallville had to offer a city girl like me. Before I even had a chance to answer, he said that he understood why I might feel a bit hesitant given that the town didn't have a beauty salon and that was how I made my living but maybe I could see it as a challenge to open my own business and since my closest competition would be in Metropolis I was bound to come up trumps."

"What does he know about beauty therapy?" Anne asked astonished.

"I asked him that, to which he replied that he Googled his little heart out looking it up on the internet, then afterwards drilled Tina for more information on the finer points of it." Carol eyes twinkled merrily "Apparently she explained that her hairdressing salon also caters to clients who want their nails done but it's not a full beauty parlour mores the pity, so he made it his business to question a few of the women to find out what they thought about having one there."

Lois spat out her sip of champagne and howled with laughter "Oh my gosh; I knew he was asking because of you, but I never dreamed it was because he was going to use it as an argument to get you to say yes when he proposed."

Looking at her uncomprehending, Carol and Anne shook their heads and urged her to tell them what was so funny.

Grinning hugely, Lois clamped down on the snort that wanted to escape and continued in a voice that shook "In March we had this big celebration in the Talon for Martha's sixtieth birthday and of course, a lot of people from town were there. Anyway, Dean began asking all the women if we enjoyed getting seaweed facials and mud treatments and having our eye lashes tinted and our legs waxed etc, etc and wouldn't we just love to have a fully qualified beauty therapist based right there in Smallville for convenience sake when we needed her." Snorting, giggling she tried to speak and told them between chuckles "The older men were looking at him like he'd gone off the deep end, the younger men were wondering if you'd been a bad influence on him and even Alan Beard, whose usually so shy around women was flabbergasted enough to chaff at him for it."

"Oh good grief…." Chortling with laughter Carol told them "When he was trying to sell me on his idea he said…he said…he said that my moving to Smallville would be a kindness to all the ugly women who desperately needed a beauty therapist right there on their doorstep."

Going off into gales of laughter, the three rocked back and forth unable to contain their mirth.

Wiping her eyes, Lois snorted amused "I thought Clark's proposal was bad but Dean's makes his shine in comparison."

"He does have his moments." Carol smiled secretively.

"So does Clark" She acknowledged gaily and took a sip of champagne.

"Anyway at Dean's instigation I floated the idea past Tina about us going into business together, and she was really excited about it." Carol smiled buoyantly "Apparently she loses a bit of business because naturally when a woman goes to Metropolis for beauty work, they often treat themselves to the works and get their hair done as well because the salon offers them a deal they can't refuse. However, by pooling our resources together, Tina and I can offer all the services women could want much closer to home, thereby satisfying both the customers and strengthening both our livelihood."

"There's a lot of buzz around town about the new salon and Tina told me she's already taking bookings for when you open in a couple of weeks, so I don't think either of you will have to worry about a lack of clients" Lois advised happily.

"I just hope that after the first wave of newness wears off, that business remains brisk" She crossed her fingers nervously.

"It will; once people start using your services, they'll not only spread the word but come back themselves" Anne put in firmly.

"Hear, hear" Lois cheered heartily and stood to make another toast, this time to her and Anne's new business venture but at the ringing of the doorbell, she grabbed the money that had been set aside and returned with a bag loaded down with a selection of the Chinese food they'd ordered half an hour earlier.

Other than requests for this or that carton to be passed, the house was silent as the three enjoyed their dinner until stuffed. Picking up her plastic cup, Lois took a long sip and sighed satisfied "That hit the spot."

"Mmm." Lying down on the air mattress she was currently sitting on, Carol sighed in contentment "I have to admit there are a lot of things about San Francisco that I'm going to miss and getting a good selection of takeaway is right up there."

Feeling a renewed appreciation for her husband's powers which ensured that she didn't miss out on any food she wanted, Lois commiserated tentatively "You can get take away pizza in Smallville."

Taking the rude grunt from Anne and the rolled eyes from Carol as her due, she pursed her lips and simply sipped her wine.

"Ah well I get Dean and if it's a choice between him and take away food, he wins." Turning on her back, Carol stared up at the ceiling "It's kind of amazing isn't it; there are billions of people in the world and yet the man I fell in love with, fell for me too." Turning to look at them, she confessed bashfully "I know that sounds dumb…."

"No it doesn't" Lois cut in swiftly "I know how amazing it is, so agree wholeheartedly."

"Yeah…." Turning onto her side, she leant up on one elbow and reached for her cup of champagne "I liked Dean straight away you know and was happy that he seemed to like me too but I honestly thought that despite all of his urging for me to visit in future, that he'd forget about me a minute after I left." Taking a long sip of her drink, she smiled hugely "I really didn't expect to hear from him again and instead, he called me the day I returned home after your wedding to remind me that I promised to spend my holidays in Smallville, and to ask if I minded if he came to visit me here."

"Sweetie, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately" Anne asked amused.

"I know how I look Annie and of course I like men finding me attractive. It's not like I go out of my way to tone down my looks and win an ugly contest, but that school boy reaction I get from the opposite sex is just a knee-jerk hormonal response that while flattering, really means nothing" Carol replied unimpressed "Remember when we teased Clark about his reaction to me, and he very neatly turned the tables on us."

The women smiled as their minds winged back to the conversation that took place on the drive from the Metropolis airport to Smallville, on the day Carol and Anne arrived for the wedding.

oOo

**25****th**** September**_: on the road between Metropolis and Smallville_

Not having seen each other in almost four months, the women exchanged news and gossip with an inexhaustible flow, jumping from one subject to another with barely a pause in between. Seeing the sign for Smallville up head, Lois pointed out the window "It wasn't far from here that I first met Clark a million years ago; he was naked at the time."

"Thanks babe." Taking one hand of the wheel, he gave her thigh a soft squeeze.

"Why were you naked?" Carol asked curiously.

"I wish that I could say it was because of some girl but unfortunately, I was just having a bit of a bad day is all" He replied sadly.

"And you thought running around naked would make it better?" Anne asked straight faced.

"Well I figured it couldn't hurt" He remarked tongue in cheek "Besides, I was in a cornfield minding my own business. I didn't know that Lois was going to happen along and cop an eyeful of the goodies that one day awaited her."

Letting out a guffaw, she clasped the hand still sitting on her thigh and held it tight "Just think; it only took 17 years for me to be impressed."

"Liar!"

Snickering at the insult in his voice, she scooted over and pressed her lips to his cheek "Ok, well moving the conversation away from Clark's streaker propensities, all the ladies are looking forward to meeting you two and I was thinking…."

"We're looking forward to meeting them too Lo" Anne interrupted rapidly "But before we get into anything else, Carol and I want to know if there's anything we can help you with in regards to the wedding."

"No I'm all set, but…." Winking at her friends in a colluding manner, she exhaled audibly in disappointment "But I'm not even sure if there's going to be a wedding anymore Annie. Clark took one look at a Carol, asked me who the bombshell was and then promptly asked for his ring back." Stifling a laugh when her fiancée coughed loudly in discomfort, she bit her lip and sighed fitfully again for good measure.

"He also told me that he and Lois were just friends" Carol tossed in ruthlessly.

Gasping in fake outrage, Anne responded wrathfully "How dare he; do you want me to punch him up for you Lo?"

"Please" She sniffled pathetically.

"They're lying Anne; I barely even noticed Carol" Clark defended weakly.

"Humph!" Lois scoffed in retaliation and enjoyed watching him squirm then squirmed herself, when he demanded righteously "Oh yeah, well why don't you tell them how adolescent you acted when I introduced you to Bruce Wayne. Go on, tell them."

Feeling her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment, she cleared her throat softly "I didn't."

"Hah! You began touching your hair and twittering like a fifteen year old" He countered tactlessly "I had a helluva time convincing my friends that you weren't on crack."

Mortified, she sunk lower into the seat and insisted feebly "I wasn't that bad."

A low mocking laugh was his only response.

Not paying any attention to their byplay, Anne asked Lois in a voice hushed with awe "You met Bruce Wayne."

"_**The**_ Bruce Wayne," Carol repeated just as reverently.

Turning to find identical expressions of star struck wonder on their faces, Lois squirmed internally knowing that she'd likely worn the exact same look on her face upon meeting the reclusive billionaire.

Knowing that some explanation was called for, she bobbed her head "Yeah, he and a few of Clark's friends who don't live in Smallville came to our place a couple of weeks ago to meet everyone" She replied carelessly then rushed on in case they felt left out "It was initially just going to be a meet and greet between me and them but since they're also going to be at Clark's stag party, we decided to have a barbeque so everyone could get acquainted before the big day."

Anne shifted her eyes to look at Clark in the rear vision mirror "You're friends with Bruce Wayne?"

Carol simply whistled impressed.

"Yep" He confirmed heartily before clicking his tongue loudly in disapproval at his fiancé and berating kindly "Sweetheart, you forgot to tell them that Oliver Queen, who's also a good friend of mine by the way, jetted in that day as well."

"What?" Anne squeaked out flabbergasted "First you don't tell us that you've met Bruce Wayne and now we find out you also met Oliver Queen and didn't mention him either!"

"Now girls, don't you go being too hard on her" Clark defended loyally "I'm certain she would have mentioned it if Oliver, or as Lois affectionately calls him, Ollie, wasn't just old hat to her."

"Ollie….old hat….what's he's talking about Lo?" Carol sputtered briskly.

"Why didn't you know; Lo used to date him" Clark gushed animatedly. Shooting him a fiery look, Lois gnashed her teeth when he smiled back angelically and enquired in a sugary voice "I guess being his girlfriend years ago has rendered you immune to him now; right baby?"

Hearing the glee in his voice, she pinched his side and at his laugh, snarled under her breath "Shut up!"

"Girlfriend" Carol repeated floored.

"Dated him….you dated him?" Anne echoed staggered.

"Umm…" Figuring by their expressions that she wasn't going to get away with a non-answer, Lois smiled weakly "You see; it was all so long ago that I just didn't think to mention it…."

"She didn't think to mention it; can you beat that?" Carol turned to Anne who simply shook her head gloomily.

"I forgot; so shoot me" She wailed pitifully.

"First explain how you could possibly forget something like that and we'll see about the shooting" Anne replied piteously.

Jumping in eagerly, she rushed into speech "Ok see, it wasn't long after Ollie and I broke up that I had other things to occupy my mind; like being scared shitless that I was going to be carted away to the loony bin for example and since I met you the two of you 5 years after that horror of my life was all over, I never had occasion to think of him and just….forgot."

The women pursed their lips in thought before deciding to let her of the hook "Ok, we'll forgive you."

"Thank you" She replied meekly. Knowing the grunt of amusement coming from her fiancée was at her expense, Lois narrowed her eyes and simpered meanly to her friends "Anyway, Oliver wasn't the only person I forgot about when I left Smallville, Clark was too."

"Yeah but you no sooner returned and like most women, found me irresistible" He countered completely un-phased.

She batted her lashes and reminded him coyly "I found your body irresistible but told you to take a hike."

He smiled slowly in return "Which I was happy to do, but not before getting what I wanted remember?"

Recalling that first day and the methods he'd employed in persuading her into seeing him later that night and then twice a day after that, Lois' licked her lips greedily.

"What other movers and shakers do you know?" Carol interrupted their parley to ask inquisitively.

Clark scratched his cheek before lifting one shoulder negligently "I used to be friends with Lex Luthor but we had a falling out years ago, so I can't say that I really know him anymore."

"Lex Luthor…" Carol repeated breathlessly "Is he as frighteningly sexy in real life as he is in the media?"

"Hang on; don't answer that yet" Anne called while digging a magazine out of her handbag. Flipping to the second last page, she thrust it over the seat and waved it so the two people in front could have a good look "See how hot he looks escorting his latest girlfriend down the red carpet; well does this picture do justice to how he looks in real life?"

"Umm well…." Clark flicked his eyes at the magazine and replied blankly "I can honestly say that I was never turned on by him." At their chortles of laughter, he gave his fiancée's thigh a pat "Lo, I'm turning this question over to you."

"Are you shitting me? You know Lex Luthor too!" Anne demanded stupefied.

"What she said" Carol jumped in fast on her heels.

"Know him!" Clark exclaimed heartily "Of course she knows him! Why Lo umfff…." Ignoring the glare shooting out of his eyes when her hand slapped over his mouth, Lois turned and smiled winningly at her friends "I knew Lex when I lived here more than 15 years ago but.…ewww" Snatching her hand away when he licked it, she wrinkled her nose and wiped it on his shirt sleeve.

"That's not what you said when I was licking you all over last night" He wiggled his brows lecherously.

Hearing the snickers from the back seat, she glowered "Can I not take you anywhere?"

Smiling without the least bit of shame, he licked his lips and sent her a slow suggestive wink.

"Firstly, TMI about your sex life" Anne broke in perkily and waved the magazine "And secondly, let's not forget about Lex. How does he compare in real life?"

Taking a good look, Lois declared frankly "Well it's been a good long time since I've seen him in person but I vividly recall that he had sex appeal out the wazoo, and this picture doesn't even come close to capturing it."

"What are you talking about; you never even liked him" Clark scoffed emphatically.

"What's that got to do with the price of tea in China?" She swung round to retort bluntly before swinging back to her friends to continue unabated "I didn't like him so wasn't interested but I wasn't so out of touch with reality, that I was unaware the man literally oozed magnetism and considering Lex was a lot younger then, it doesn't take great powers of deduction to figure out why he's never short of female company to this day."

"Money" Clark announced blandly.

"Rubbish!" She disabused swiftly "If you want to believe that, go right ahead but I don't believe for one second that all the arm candy that hangs off him, is wholly and solely lured by his mega bucks."

"Me neither" Carol and Anne spoke simultaneously.

Clark let out a rude sound but didn't bother commenting.

Giving his thigh a pat in commiseration, Lois grinned "Face it honey; the man has presence and power and an aura of danger surrounding him which a lot of women find very attractive."

"I do" Carol shot out.

"Me too" Anne tossed in rapidly.

"Me three" Lois grinned fast and bright. When he looked at her pointedly, she explained dryly "Not for Lex in particular but I've always had a thing for the bad boys, so can well understand why other women do too."

His eyes lifted heavenward but his mouth stayed closed.

"You were hot for the Frosty the ice queen, but have the nerve to roll your eyes at me" She snarked just loud enough for him to hear and sniffed haughtily at his amused grunt, knowing he'd figured out exactly who she was referring to.

Reaching out to give her thigh a squeeze, he murmured low voiced "My penis was hot for her, my everything is hot for you."

Shoulders shaking, she whispered astounded "Did I hear you right; your penis was hot for Frosty?"

Clark let out a bark of laughter and gave her thigh a companionable pat "What's really sad, is that's about the size of it but hearing it put like that, would give any sane man pause. Why the hell didn't you call her that years ago; it might've saved me?"

Gulping down her own chuckles, Lois scooted over the seat and smacked a kiss to his cheek "That's for saying your everything is hot for me."

Slanting a look her way, he said in an undertone "It all sounded better in my head; sorry"

"Actually, it sounded just right" She squeezed his hand in return.

Tightening the hand on her thigh when she began to move back to her side of the seat, he half demanded, half asked "Stay."

Nestling against him, she turned at the overly fake coughs from the back seat and saw her friends looking at them with goofy smiles "Don't mind us."

"Since we have their permission why don't we…." Clark began excitedly only to get cut off by Lois lifting one finger in admonishment and telling him to behave.

Leaving him to sulk, she turned to the girls and asked amiably "Now where were we?"

"Lex, you knew him but didn't like him, now spill your guts" Anne prompted rapidly.

"Ok well, even as a young 20 something Lex was very charismatic and had immense drawing power, so there's no doubt in my mind that he was only ever without female company, when he chose to be" Lois stated categorically "Like Bruce and Oliver, Lex is simply one of those men women are attracted to and his ominous reputation over the years hasn't hurt him in the slightest. In fact, I'd say his notoriety of being as masterful in the bedroom as he is in the boardroom has only enhanced his appeal with the opposite sex, as proven by the oodles of women who still flock to his side like bees to a honeypot."

"I'd flock" Carol and Anne yelled in unison then looked at each other and giggled.

"Women!" Clark harrumphed in disgust.

"Men have their own weaknesses; want me to start listing them?" Lois defended sweetly.

Wiggling uncomfortably, he stared hard out the windshield and pretended to be deaf, causing her to gurgle in laughter.

"So who's more dynamic in real life Lo; Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen or Lex Luthor?" Carol scooted forward to ask eagerly.

Her brow wrinkled as she deliberated out loud "Well all three of them wield an awful lot of power, which is quite an aphrodisiac in itself and yes, their billions certainly add to their appeal but it also doesn't hurt that they're all well known for being incredibly sharp business men, not to mention have the kind of reputations that make women swoon. Let's be honest here; how many women wouldn't just love to be the one who brings the mysteriously elusive Bruce Wayne out of the shadows, or the notorious playboy Oliver queen to heel, or to tame the aloofly dangerous Lex Luthor?" She shrugged undecided "Sorry, I really can't answer that question."

"You ladies can decide that for yourselves when you meet them" Clark announced jauntily.

Wondering why he sounded so chirpy, Lois eyed him suspiciously while Anne squeaked excited "We're going to meet them?"

"Uh huh…well not Lex but Ollie and Bruce are good friends of mine, so they'll be at the wedding" He informed them cheerfully.

Grabbing the compact mirror from her handbag, Anne raked one hand through her wild mop of hair and moaned "Why couldn't I have been born with smooth hair?"

"What'd you think we should wear when we meet them?" Carol asked no one in particular.

"Anne there's nothing wrong with your hair; it's beautiful. Furthermore, I seriously doubt that either of them is going to meet you and think; gee I'd love to marry Anne Donaghy but her curly hair is a deal breaker" Lois advised patiently, then turned to Carol and replied "The two of you are going to meet them at the wedding, so you'll be wearing your bridesmaid's dresses and look absolutely gorgeous."

Bringing the truck to a halt in front of the farm house, Clark smiled at the women with an innocence that was markedly fake "Now let me think, before I mentioned Bruce, Oliver and Lex and the three of you began discussing them at length, what were all of you giving me a hard time about again?" Tapping his fingers on his lips, he gave them a saccharine smile and continued pleasantly "Oh that's right; it was my perfectly normal reaction to seeing Carol for the first time. So what'd you lot have to say for yourselves now huh?"

Coughing and clearing their throats sheepishly at being very neatly caught out, they climbed out of the truck and beat a hasty retreat to meet Martha who was now standing on the porch, with Clark's uncivil laughter ringing in their ears.

Coming back to the present, the women looked at each other and began to giggle.

"He is such a pain."

"But he's your pain" Anne smiled cheekily.

"Yeah…" Hugging her knees tight, Lois grinned in return "He's a nuisance and headache but I wouldn't trade him for all the gold in the world."

"When did you know that you loved him?"

"I knew for sure when he confessed that he tricked me into falling asleep and explained that he knew what I was hiding" She answered in reply to Carol's question "I refused to admit the truth to myself before that, but thinking that he was going to freak out and dump me because of my abilities scared me into facing it. When did you know that you loved Dean?"

"The first time I heard him say that he loved me" Reaching for the bottle of champagne, Carol held it aloft "Anyone else?" At the plastic cups thrust in her direction, she took that as a yes. After refilling their cups, she took a sip from hers and continued without pause "Anyway after Dean said it, I was so shocked that I just lay there absolutely gobsmacked as my own revelation hit me in the face and just as he began trying to cover up, I jumped on top of him and said that it better not just be sex talking because I loved him too."

"When did it happen?"

"On Valentine's day" She exclaimed happily "I'd had a shitty day at work because I hadn't heard from him at all and to make it even worse, every client that I had was burbling over with excitement for their plans that night, which really sucked because I had to pretend to be happy for them and I know we're not supposed to get sucked into the commercialisation of it all, but try comforting yourself with that drivel when you have a boyfriend that you don't hear bugger all from, on what is supposed to be the most romantic night of the year." At their cackle's of amusement, she continued sheepishly "Anyway, I left work in a very grumpy mood with the intention of getting bombed out of my mind before calling him up to tell him off, only to walk out to the parking lot to find him leaning against my car, waiting for me."

"But if that happened in February, why didn't you say yes when he proposed?" Lois asked curiously.

"Because I don't think we're ready" She replied simply "We've had the fun and fantasy of a long distance relationship and we've come through that with flying colours, but now it's time to see how we fare with the tediousness of everyday living. I figure that one year is a good enough benchmark to know for sure, so if we're still of the same mind after that, I'll marry him."

"Clark and I did that and it worked out great" Lois applauded brightly.

"You and Clark got married after only dating for 3 months" Anne reminded her highly amused.

"Two months and one week officially; the first three weeks we weren't dating and didn't pretend to be but don't forget that we knew each other years ago" She corrected meticulously.

"But you weren't together years ago were you?" Carol's brow wrinkled.

"Noooo but since neither of us ever bothered putting our best foot forward with the other during the entirety of our acquaintance, we also never had to waste time trying to see beyond the illusion to the real person underneath, since we were already painfully aware of each other's shortcomings when we fell in love." Taking a sip of her drink, she continued "Also, if you count up all the time I lived with his family years ago and the weeks I stayed with him at the farm this time, plus the month we lived together before we got married, that's hours and hours and hours we spent together, which adds up to at least two or three years of serious dating time right there." Slinging her arms around the necks of her friends, she hugged them awkwardly while trying not to spill her drink "Clark is my prince charming and don't ask me why that it is, cause I don't have a clue and now that you two are moving to Smallville, I'm just so happy."

The women exchanged looks before Anne teased gently "Lo, your last sentence was about two different things."

Giving her nose a scratch, she thought about it for a beat before beaming happily "Who cares, I'm happy."

"Me too" Carol followed up cheerfully.

"And me" Shifting to get more comfortable on her air mattress, Anne rested her feet on one of the packed boxes "I'm going to miss this house though."

Looking around what used to be a beautifully furnished lounge room, the women saw a room empty of everything except for half a dozen boxes they intended to take with them on the drive to Smallville in the morning and the bedding they intended to sleep on that night.

The past 9 days had been a frantic effort by all three to pack up and clean Anne and Lois' house, Carol's apartment, visiting lawyers to sign all the necessary legal papers for the sale of both and the craft store. All three were tired but richer in pocket and somewhat sad to know this part of their lives was coming to a close.

Likewise shifting to make herself comfortable, Lois looked at the two women that she loved like sisters and said "Despite all the running around we've had to do in the past week or so, it's been fun being here in San Francisco with you two again."

"Not missing Clark too much then?"

"Yeah I have and unfortunately it's the busy time of year on the farm, which is why he and Dean couldn't come to give us a hand but…" She looked at them meaningfully "Hopefully he won't be too tired for what I have in mind when I get home."

"Hopefully Dean won't be too tired to give me the warm welcome I'm anticipating" Carol licked her lips mischievously.

"I have a feeling that neither of you have anything to worry about" Anne advised blandly "As for me, well I'll just cuddle up with my bank statement and go to sleep thinking about all the money we made selling both the business and the house."

Snickering, Lois gave her hand a tap of comfort while stating in a voice of satisfaction "We did make out good didn't we?"

"We made out like bandits" She agreed pleased.

"True; we sold both the business and this house for a very healthy profit, so here's to us…." Lois lifted her cup gleefully in a toast to themselves and taking a deep gulp, continued "Although our new enterprise in Smallville won't ever be as large as the one we had here, once it starts paying for itself, we shouldn't go hungry."

"Well if it ever comes to that, we can always live of the land since both of you are hooked up with farmers" Anne rubbed her hands together eagerly "You know, I'm really looking forward to getting our new business of the ground; it's going to be a whole new challenge."

"Well if anyone can make a success out of it, I know that you two can" Carol declared loyally.

"We're off to a good start already." Lois pressed her palm against her mouth to stifle a yawn and slid down to lie supine on her air bed. "Remember when I told you that some of my friends asked me about the bridal outfits we wore at the wedding, and I told them that I'd sewed them myself, and then they started asked if I'd ever considered taking on clients. Well I immediately I said yes." Looking at Anne, she told her seriously. "You've always been more business oriented than me, so it was only natural that you ran our craft store while I indulged my wanderlust by scouting out talent around the country. But since Clark has put the kibosh on me being away from home for weeks at a time, becoming a seamstress was a good substitute since it's something that I really enjoy doing."

"And with the money we made from selling our shop here, we can easily afford the one we intend to open in Smallville" Anne announced cheerfully "What's even better is that it's a lot cheaper to run a business there than in San Francisco, so we won't have to sink all our capital into it and worry about being destitute if our venture goes belly up."

"Right…" She smiled pleased with herself "So far I've done all the dressmaking at home which Clark hasn't been too thrilled about. He's worried about walking in the door one day to find half naked women everywhere…." At their snickers, she crossed her heart solemnly "You'd think he wouldn't mind that but he said he's not interested in copping an eye full of someone's wife or girlfriend, and getting a black eye for his trouble. Anyway, after we bought the farm next door to his moms, we talked about having a work room built on so I'd have more space than I've got now using the spare bedroom, but I changed my mind when you decided to move to Smallville as well."

"You changed your plans just for me?" Anne asked touched.

"Of course Annie; the minute I knew you were coming I started looking into leasing some space so we could go into business together like we did here" Lois told her candidly. "Unfortunately as you know, I couldn't find anything big enough to suit, so asked Roy if we could lease two shops side by side and just knock out the wall out in between to make it one big one and he said that was fine, as long as we paid to have it put it back up if or when we vacate the premises. So our new enterprise will have plenty of space and one section will be devoted to the various kinds of needlework and textile arts, which is your speciality and the other section to sewing, which is mine." Lifting up on one elbow, she rolled her eyes dramatically "Whenever I've made a dress or outfit for someone, we've had to go all the way into Metropolis to buy the pattern and the material and all the little extras that are needed, but once our shop is stocked with all of that stuff then anyone can purchase what they want from us, and those who either can't sew or don't have the time, can get me to make them whatever they want for a fee.

Not wanting to burst her balloon but feeling somewhat unsure, Anne asked carefully "Lo, are you sure there are enough people in Smallville to want that kind of thing?"

"Well you know what they say; nothing ventured, nothing gained" She shrugged unknowing. "But just remember, there are a number of small towns around Smallville and all of them have people. Where you have people, you have things like dances and parties and social events, but not everyone can afford to buy a lovely dress or gown from the shops. Also, don't forget, all those towns have schools where lots and lots of teenage girls attend things like proms…" She trailed off deliberately.

"Lo, you'd never be able to keep up" Carol mumbled around a yawn.

Laughing, she fell back onto her bed "I don't anticipate anything like that happening but we can always hire staff if demand picks up. I was really just trying to point out that opening our shop in Smallville is a risk, but it was also a risk when we opened one here in San Francisco and although you could use the argument that the market here was bigger, the flip side is that the competition was also a lot fiercer. So other than money, what have we got to lose by trying?"

"Other than money" Anne repeated with a tremor of laughter in her voice.

"Uh huh, hopefully we won't go belly up but if we do, you're welcome to come live with me and Clark" She grinned cheekily.

Snorting out a laugh, Anne ruffled her friend's hair teasingly "Well since you took the plunge and invested with me when I wanted to open our place here, I'm willing to put my cash on the line and throw in with you. Besides, since we'll have the only dressmaking shop in Smallville…."

"And its environs" Lois tossed in chirpily.

"And its environs.…" Anne continued buoyantly.

"Not to mention having the only craft store for miles…." Lois batted her lashes playfully "If anyone is interested in that kind of thing right now, they either have to drive to Metropolis for supplies or order it online."

"Then we should hopefully do a booming trade" Anne finished triumphantly.

"I don't know if it will ever be booming but if we're lucky, we should hopefully make a steady income" She corrected carefully.

"That's good enough for me" Anne smiled in return "I never expected to make my fortune by opening a craft store, so as long as we make enough for me to keep a roof over my head and have a little left over for a rainy day, I'll be satisfied."

"Me too um…" Breaking off to yawn hugely, Lois noted Carol's eyes were closed and felt her own glazing over "Sorry, I know it's still early but I'm getting tired. Do you mind if we call it a night?"

"Nope."

"Me neither" Carol mumbled almost incoherently.

Stepping over to the light switch, Anne waited until the two women were settled and plunged the room into darkness "Um guys, I can't see a thing; call out would you."

"Over here." They called out helpfully.

There was silence for a few seconds then "Ow shit, fucking hell."

"What's wrong?" Jumping out of their makeshift beds, Lois and Carol rushed over, only to find out what was wrong when they collided and tripped over the boxes scattered around the room.

Swearing, the three began to painfully laugh as they bumped into cartons and each other while crawling around on their knees looking for their beds. However, at the musical chime of a cell-phone, all stopped to listen.

"That's mine and it has to be Clark." Lois crawled faster "Someone get it."

"Didn't you talk to him earlier?"

"Yeah but we got cut off because..." Not able to explain that their conversation ended abruptly when he had to leave on a Superman call, she continued lamely "It was a terrible connection and the line dropped out but the phone company must have fixed whatever was wrong, which is why he's calling again…if that's him I mean." At the continued ringing, she urged "Just get the phone."

'Where is it?"

"It's in my bag and that's…." Waving one hand in a circular fashion to Carol's question, she tried to make out the objects but could only see little blobs in the darkness "…over there somewhere."

"We'd find the phone a lot faster, if someone can find the stupid wall that has the freaking light switch" Carol growled after banging into yet another box and crawled carefully over the floor with one hand held cautiously. Into the bedlam of Lois' phone ringing and her continuing to call out for someone to get it, a second cell-phone shrilled causing her to call out urgently "That's mine and it's probably Dean. Someone get it."

Anne rolled her eyes "Where is it?"

"In my bag and that's around here somewhere too" She replied and snarled in frustration "How many stupid boxes are there and why didn't we stack them against the wall?"

"I don't think there are many; we just keep running into the same ones" Lois grunted peeved when she smacked into yet another one "Or maybe they're breeding in the dark and we're surrounded."

"That's freaky; stop it!" Anne shivered delicately "This is ridiculous; I've lived in this house for over 7 years and could navigate it in the dark when it was full of furniture but now that it's empty, I'm lost."

Crying in triumph when her hand touched a wall, Anne stood up slowly and yelled in glee when her fingers found the switch.

Taking a second to blink their eyes clear, the two women dived for their handbags and pulled out their still ringing phones.

Seeing Clarks' name on her screen, Lois grinned delighted "Hi handsome."

"Why are you panting?"

"The thought of you always makes me pant honey" She replied cheekily and enjoyed his low husky laugh in return "Hang on for a minute ok?" At his murmur, she gestured over her shoulder "I'm just going to take this outside ok."

"I appreciate you taking the cooing elsewhere unlike some people." Anne sent an amused look in Carol's direction.

Stepping outside the front door, she took a seat on the top step "I'm back, now did everything go ok on the call."

"Uh huh, easy peasy" Clark announced breezily.

"If it was so easy peasy, why'd you take so long to call me back?"

"Because I was on the way home when I heard sounds of a bar brawl in progress, so I stopped by to lend the police a hand."

"You don't normally respond to calls of that kind."

"Well they didn't actually call, I just decided to assist."

"Why?"

He cleared his throat noisily "Well I've been feeling a little edgy the last few days, so thought a brawl might be a good way to work of some tension."

Her brows climbed to her hair line "You got involved in it?"

"Of course not, I helped to break it up" He retorted with a chuckle "And after it was over, a number of the men offered to buy Superman a drink in the spirit of brotherhood."

"Brotherhood?" She questioned interested.

"Yep."

"Explain."

"Well from what they said, I take it to understand they like the idea that the man of steel is no different to them, when it comes to feeling frustrated from lack of sex because he's in trouble with the wife" Clark related enjoying himself.

Pressing a hand against her mouth to stifle the laugh that wanted to pop out, she asked amused "You told them that your wife was mad at you, and withholding favours because of it?"

"Nope, they just assumed that was the reason I was in a bad mood, so began to share their own tales of woe of how it feels to be kicked out the marital bed by a pissed of wife, and then began giving me advice on how to turn you up sweet so I could get some action" At her peal of laughter, he grinned widely "I didn't bother correcting them since lack of sex was the reason I was feeling a little tense. So the upshot is that those men now consider Superman one of the guys, and he's been invited back to drink with them anytime he needs to escape from the wife for a bit."

"Only you" Lois snorted shaking her head.

"Anyway, the day after tomorrow the world will see a very happy Superman when his wife comes home…" Clark's eyes narrowed in determination "You will be home the day after tomorrow right?"

"Yep, we're all done. The movers came this afternoon and took everything except for a few boxes of clothes and things which we're going to load in the cars. So barring any emergencies we plan to leave here first thing in the morning and arrive in Smallville about lunch time on Thursday."

"And guess what you'll be doing for the rest of the day."

"Playing tiddly winks" She replied tongue in cheek.

"Not even!" He grunted rudely "At least if you'd stayed at a hotel while in San Francisco, I could have visited without anyone being the wiser but noooo, you just had to stay with Anne."

"Hello, this was mine and Anne's house so what excuse could I have given for not staying here?" She asked patiently.

"Yeah, yeah I know."

"Besides, after spending the all my time packing up the house and Carol's apartment, not to mention running around singing papers to sell both the business and the house, I would have been far too tired for sex anyway."

"I didn't say you needed to participate; just be here" He retorted flippantly and took the rude noise down the end of the line as his due. "Can you hang on for a second Lo, someone else who's been missing you a whole lot is waking up and I'm sure he'd love to say hi." Giving the dog lying beside him on the bed a soft poke, Clark thrust out the phone "Bark hello."

"Oh yuk!" Grimacing at the doggy spit on his phone, he swiped the instrument on his jeans "I didn't tell you to chew my phone you little shit, I said to bark hello." Holding out his cell at a careful distance, he called out loudly "Babe, sing out so the beast knows it's you."

"Hi Attila, are you missing me boy?" She yelled obediently.

Woofing in joy at hearing her voice, the dog rolled over the bed happily before pouncing forward to lick the phone with much enthusiasm.

Snatching his hand back quickly, Clark zipped to the kitchen to grab some paper towel and wiped the instrument down. Holding it an inch from his ear, he queried hopefully "What's the best thing to get dog spit of a phone?"

"Why don't you try the sterile wipes I keep in the first aid kit; there's a packet in there."

"You're a lifesaver."

Listening to him castigating the pooch, her lips curved and her eyes closed then shot open when he returned and began talking again.

"Before I forget Lo, I saw Melvin in town today and he said to tell you…hang on; let me see if I can remember his exact words." Clark ceased for a moment to clear his throat noisily and continued in a voice that trembled with laughter "Ah yes; he said to tell you that his readers have missed your bracing yet scintillating articles in the last two editions, so he's looking forward to seeing what you come up with real soon."

"Aw, that's so sweet." Lois smiled sleepily "Maybe I'll write a humorous piece about three city women packing up their lives to move to small town USA; what'd you think?"

"I'd be interested in reading that" He chuckled appreciatively "But how'd you get roped into writing a weekly column for the Gazette anyway? The last I heard, Melvin liked your article about Superman and asked you to write an article once a month for his paper, when did that change?"

"Um, last month I think" She scratched her head fitfully and frowningly asked "Didn't I tell you?"

"Nope."

"Sorry honey, I meant to do so but forgot in all the bustle and excitement of Anne deciding to move to Smallville and getting a place organised for her to live, and our talks of opening a shop there and all that stuff." She broke off to yawn hugely and continued in a jumbled mumble "Anyway, Melvin told me that his subscribers really liked my stories, so asked if I'd consider writing a weekly column about the goings on in town and I said yes, but only if it could wait until all the present upheaval was over with and he said that was fine."

"So he suckered you in by appealing to your vanity huh?" Clark asked amused "Isn't that how he got you to write the story about being saved by Superman?"

"Yuh huh" She confirmed abashed. Hearing his amused snort, she murmured drowsily "Never underestimate the results you can achieve by stroking someone's ego."

"I'll make a note of it" He replied blithely but hearing another yawn instead of a laugh, proposed "Why don't I let you go and get some sleep?"

Shaking herself awake, Lois replied promptly "No, I've missed being at home with you and Attila so I'm not ready to hang up yet. Tell me what all you guys have been up to while I've been away."

"Ok, well…" Chatting away about all their doings, he paused upon hearing a small little snore issuing down the line "Babe…" At the silence, Clark called louder a second time "Lois."

"Hmm…sorry, did I drift off."

"Uh huh."

"I think that I'd better go to bed." Yawning, stretching she got to her feet "I'll call you when we stop somewhere for lunch tomorrow ok?"

"What time are you leaving in the morning?"

"We're hoping to be on the road by 5am, and we're going to stop for the night at the same hotel in Rock Springs that I stayed at the last time."

"Maybe I should join you there, then we wouldn't have to wait until the day after tomorrow to see each other" He proposed eagerly.

"Sorry hon, we've booked a room that has three single beds not a cabin."

"Whose dumb idea was that?"

"Anne's, she said there was no point in paying more than we had to since it was only for one night and since it made sense, we agreed."

"Women and their practicality" He denigrated unsatisfied but when she only yawned at his response, he smiled "Give me a call when you stop for lunch tomorrow so I know everything's ok."

"Uh huh" Switching of, she turned to go inside then looked down at her hand horrified before quickly pressing the number for his cell.

"Forget something?" Clark asked dryly.

"Yeah, um….sorry."

Hearing the embarrassment in her voice, he grinned "So what was it you wanted to say?"

"Goodnight."

"Uh huh and…"

Wanting to smack him, she cooed sweetly "I love you."

"It's coming to something when a man has to coax those words out of his wife" Hearing the snarl she couldn't hold back, he grinned even wider "Goodnight baby, I love you too."

Making her way back inside, Lois found Carol and Anne were already fast asleep but had taken the time to push all the boxes against the walls to ensure no one tripped over them in the dark. Switching of the light, she cautiously made her way over to her own bed and was asleep less than a minute later.

oOo

Hanging up the phone, Clark addressed the dog curled up on Lois' side of the bed "Hey you, don't get too comfortable. She'll be home the day after tomorrow and then you're out of here."

Yawning in contentment, Attila curled up tighter.

Not ready to sleep but feeling restless, he wandered into the kitchen and smiled crookedly when the beast joined him less than a minute later "Want a snack buddy?"

Taking the yip as a yes, he fixed them both one and after zipping back to the bedroom to lay down a towel to protect the quilt cover, he returned to get the mutt and their food. Making himself comfortable on his side of the bed once again, Clark set the dog's bowl down "Here you go and just remember, this is strictly our secret. If Lois finds out I let you eat in here, she'll kill me and I'll get even by being extra nice to you and we both know how much you'd hate that."

Already nose deep in his banquet of chicken giblets and offal, Attila gave a cursory wag of his tail.

Unoffended at the lack of bark, Clark scooped up a helping from his cherry pie and continued talking as if the mutt understood every word "The house seems awful lonely without her, doesn't it boy?" Sighing, he scooped up a second lot and shovelled it in "She's been gone for 9 days, well strictly speaking it's been 9 days 13 hours and 22 minutes and this was actually the perfect time for her to be away because I'm really busy on the farm right now, but since we both know that I could have all the work done lickety split, never is actually a good time for her to be away." Hefting out a deep mournful breath, he finished dolefully "I don't like it when she's not at home."

Finished with his treat, the dog rolled over and rubbed his back among the covers. Giving the beast a pat, Clark sighed once again "I know; that's how I feel too. If she ever has to go away again…..I'm not saying she will but if she does, then she has to take us too, right buddy?"

Letting out a woofy belch, Attila gave his ear a hearty scratch.

"I'm glad you agree." Nodding decisively, Clark shoved the last bite in and zipping their empties back to the kitchen, returned to strip down to the skin before climbing into bed. Switching of the light, he gave the dog a gentle poke "Remind me to change the bedding and put all of these ones in the wash tomorrow. Lois will be home the day after and your doggy scent isn't romance friendly."

oOo

_14 months Later_

Returning home after taking care of a super-call, Clark stepped into the bedroom and after pressing a quick kiss of greeting on his wife's head, headed directly for the en-suite. Coming back freshly showered minutes later, he climbed into bed and remarked chattily "Do you realise that since you returned to Smallville, the men in this town are falling like nine pins."

"Hmm."

Noticing her eyes hadn't lifted from the book she was reading, which meant she wasn't paying any attention to him; he deliberately jostled her while scooting down under the covers "It's true and since my wife's the troublemaker who started it all, I don't know if the men want to lynch me or thank me."

"What?"

Hearing the distracted tone in her voice, he bounced around while getting comfortable and once settled; looked up to find her looking at him with a knowing expression on her face.

"Comfy?" Lois asked solicitously.

"Not quite."

Understanding that meant he wasn't going to give her any peace, she set her book on the nightstand and after patting her pillow to fluff it up, likewise scooched down under the covers and turned side on to face him "Ok, now what were you talking about that needed my undivided attention?"

"Nothing important" He muttered sulkily.

Scooting over, she plastered kisses on his neck, chin and face while coaxing sweetly "Please tell me; please. I'm dying to know what you were saying."

Unsatisfied, he grumbled "You weren't before."

Pressing a kiss to his jaw, she murmured apologetically "I'm sorry honey but I'd just gotten to a particularly good part of my book and…."

"What was so good about it?"

"Well the hero had finally managed to get the heroine into bed and…."

"What'd you mean finally; how long did it take him?"

"A few months and it was really roman…."

"A few months…." He snorted contemptuously "What a loser! I had you under me in 5 minutes and I didn't even have to try."

Laughing, she smacked his arm.

Reaching over to grab the book, he opened it to the page she'd marked and flipped to the racy bit. Running his eyes over the text, he grunted again before tossing the book down unimpressed "I'm much better than him."

"Braggart."

"I can afford to brag; here I'll show you" Quickly whipping of her nightie, he spun her under him and got down to action. Cavorting playfully, the two laughed like children while he showed her some of his moves.

Hearing the chortles of amusement ringing down the hallway, Attila woke up. However, having gotten used to medley of sounds they made when together and knowing this was one of those times he wasn't invited to join them, he stamped his paws into his snoozy cuddler bed and once fluffed up to his satisfaction, balled himself up and fell back to sleep.

Getting his breath back afterwards, Clark turned them on their sides and scooped her in close "Who's the hero now?"

Giggling at the smug look on his face, Lois pressed her lips to his cheek "You are."

"That's more like it." Gathering her a tad closer until her breasts were nicely pillowed against his chest, he let out a soft contented breath.

Tucking her face into his neck, she breathed in his scent while idly running her foot up and down his leg "What were you talking about before."

"Hmmm."

Leaning up, she smiled at the look of bliss on his face "What were you talking about before."

"I was saying that since you came back, the men in this town are dropping like flies and it's your fault." Seeing her frown of bewilderment, he reassured earnestly "Really and truly; wherever you go, trouble soon follows."

Not having a clue what he was getting at, she asked exasperated "What on earth are you talking about?"

Ignoring her question, he stared up at the ceiling and pondered aloud "I was the first to go…" Flicking his eyes to the side to ensure he had her full attention, he continued gloomily "You no sooner arrived in Smallville than you managed to get your hooks into me."

Choosing not to hear her rude snort, he muttered grumpily "Your friends came for the wedding and Dean went down for the count to Carol. Six months later she left San Francisco to move in with him and the two of them are getting married next week. Anne moved to Smallville when Carol did, became chummy with Evan Parks when he moved here to take up the Sheriff's job after Lloyd retired last Thanksgiving. Since the two of them have just bought the Miller place, his number is clearly up and I'm expecting to hear wedding bells from them any day now." Chuckling softly, Lois patted his arm in comfort. Tucking her in closer, he continued grousing "Chloe started spending time here because of you and in the process, she and Neil got to know each other much better than they ever did in school, the result being that he took her to the town dance last year and since the two of them are still going strong, I have to figure that he's dead in the water and might as well kiss his freedom goodbye. To make matters worse, Chloe started bringing some of her friends for the occasional weekend and two of them; namely Gail Jones and Paula Lewis have started getting cozy with Sy Tan and Mike Oberle, so I can easily read the writing on the wall where those men are concerned." Giving his wife the fish eye, he grumbled "And all of this is your fault! If you hadn't come back for a holiday, none of us men would be shackled. We'd all still be the happy go lucky, footloose bachelors we once were."

"Well if you lot really want your freedom…."

"There's no point now…" He interrupted with a heavy forlorn sigh "I'm sure that I speak on behalf of all the men when I say, that we've gotten used to you lot gumming up our lives."

Chuckling softly, she hugged him tight "Clark."

At the tone, his antenna went on alert. He'd gotten used to various nuances in her voice. The occasional one still caught him off guard but he was used to the playful one, the happy one, the sad one, the 'you're in deep trouble Mr' one, and the 'I want something' one. This tone had been the last; which meant his wife wanted something, which meant it was going to cost him money.

Playing deaf wouldn't work because Lois was damn sneaky. She'd just ambush him later when his defences were down; like when he was half asleep. Why she hadn't tried while they were making love was a mystery and he'd love to have the time to ponder the issue but couldn't spare even half the brain power to do so. She needed watching. Who knew what was going on in that screwy little brain of hers but it likely meant no good for him. He wouldn't trust her not to threaten him with her cooking until he begged for mercy. He had to keep his wits about him and not commit to anything. If Lois was only half-hearted about what she wanted, he had a fighting chance. If she was dead serious, he was done for.

Snuggling in she rested her head on his shoulder and began to idly drift her fingertips over his chest "My prince."

Oh yeah, she wanted something all right.

Knowing if he pretended to be asleep, his darling would simply shake him awake, he compromised with a noncommittal "Hmm."

"It's our anniversary soon."

"It's not for another month" He corrected smoothly.

Ignoring that, she nudged "Do you know what you're going to get me?"

Ahhh! He knew that if he only waited a couple of seconds, his wife wouldn't keep him long in suspense and now that he knew what she was after, he felt safe.

At his silence, she prodded gently "Honey bunny."

Suppressing a laugh, he pulled the blankets up firmly around his shoulders and announced flatly "I'm not telling!"

Peeling back the blankets, she coaxed sweetly "I'll tell you if you'll tell me."

"Nope!"

Holding onto her patience but unable to hold in the vexed huff that escaped, Lois pasted an adoring expression on her face and rubbed his nose with hers "I love you."

"Uh huh" He replied distrustfully.

"Do you love me?"

The cute girly tone in her voice didn't fool him one bit, any more than her playful affectionate behaviour.

"What's it going to cost me if I say yes?" He asked affably.

"A whole lot more than if you say no" She muttered waspishly under her breath. Choosing to overlook the laugh shaking his body, she cooed lovingly "Just think; this time two years ago I was doing all sorts of stuff to make you feel special because I wanted you to know how much I love you."

Oh he remembered how special she'd made him feel alright, Clark grumbled silently. Clearly his wife had selective memory and had chosen to forget that her efforts had left him feeling like a stinky cow patty.

"I'll give you a clue what I got you" She whispered tantalisingly.

"Do I have to give you a clue in return?" He asked deadpan.

She tinkled out a laugh "Well you don't _**have**_ to but it'd be pretty mean if you didn't."

"I don't mind being mean" He returned blandly.

Biting back a retort, she wondered aloud "I was thinking about making you my special pot roast for dinner tomorrow night; what'd you think?"

I think it's not going to work, he retorted silently but replied audibly "Yum, oh and if you can see your way clear to making your special glazed carrots and potato mash to go with it, I'll be a really happy man."

Her face fell ludicrously "Sure, I'll do that."

"Thanks Lo." He pressed his lips to her cheek and switched off the light "Good night sweetheart."

"Good night." Trying to figure out where she'd gone wrong Lois silently pouted in the dark. There was a time in the not too distant past when she used to threaten Clark with her cooking and he'd cry like a little girl.

oOo

_One week later: 13__th__ September approx 12 noon_

Re-joining the crowd in the backyard of Dean and Carol's farm which was presently overflowing with friends and family chatting to each other while enjoying drinks and canapés, Lois sidestepped the clan of Alan Beard, Grahame Anderson and Michael Smith with a smile of hello, waved in passing to the clique of Gladys Newkirk, Irma Williams, Mavis Dixon and Sylvia Chesney, almost ran into a third containing Ginny Roberts, Lucy Arnold and Anne Beard before finally spotting her husband who was shooting the breeze with Roy Atkins, his wife Vera and Lloyd Gibney.

Stopping at his side, she greeted those in his circle and smiled winsomely when he swung around to face her "Miss me?"

"Uh huh" Clark affirmed while scooping up a few canapés from a passing tray. Munching happily, he glared when she helped herself to the precious loot in his hand and asked huffily "Why didn't you get your own?"

"As my big strong provider, it's your job to look after me" She simpered girlishly.

"And what's going to be your excuse for helping yourself to the food on my plate when we sit down to eat?"

"What makes you think I'll do that?"

"You always do that."

"Not always" She defended meekly.

"Always!" He confirmed ruthlessly and shoving the last morsel into his mouth before she could take it, grumbled unhappily "When are we going to get some real food anyway?"

"Don't worry, as soon as everything's set up, we'll get called inside but it won't be before the photographer's finished" She gave his arm a soft comforting pat of reassurance.

"If the photographer's not finished, how come you're out here with the riff raff, instead of out front having your picture snapped?"

"Because he is finished with the bridal party so we were excused, and he's now only concentrating only on the bride and groom, who he's decided to torture a little longer." She grinned and added as an aside "At least that's what Dean muttered when we were all excused, but he and Carol had to stay."

"I can well remember the millions of photos Jimmy took at our wedding, so understand his sentiments entirely" Clark replied and cocking up one brow, asked inquisitively "So did the photographer take any romantic shots of you and the groomsman? Do I have to kill anyone; what's the story?"

"Well the story is that Dean's brother Sean and I fell in love while having our pictures taken, and have decided to run away together after the reception" She informed him straight faced.

"Ok" He returned in a like manner.

Planting her fists on her hips, Lois tapped one foot with mock indignation "Is that all you have to say about me running off with another man?"

"Well since the poor bastard doesn't have a clue what he's letting himself in for; I'm sure it won't be long before he figures it out and drops you back home, so what's the point of celebrating?" He sighed fitfully and added "With my luck, he'll have enough of you before it gets dark and I'll have to kill him for making me think I was rid of you at last." Grinning at her soft chuckle, he slipped an arm around her waist and asked blandly "So will you be sitting with me or your new boyfriend during the reception?"

"Since all but one member of the bridal party is hooked up, Carol decided to have hers and Dean's parents sit with them at the head table, while allowing the rest of us to sit with our partners and/or friends."

Nodding, he grabbed a few more canapés and sighed loudly in dissatisfaction "How can Carol possibly think these useless bits of fluff will fill anyone but a midget?"

"Darling these are just hors d'oeuvres; the real food is coming" She reassured soothingly and when his mouth opened again, quickly grabbed the last canapé from his hand and shoved it in "Need I remind you that you don't need food to survive?" Catching sight of their friends entering the melee, Lois sighed loudly in relief "There, Carol and Dean have arrived so we'll shortly get the call to adjourn to the marquee, where you'll get served a nice big meal and afterwards can take me for a spin on the dance floor."

"It's a wedding, so I'll probably get a paper thin slice of beef or chicken with an itty bitty salad on the side, and will need to eat again the minute we get home" He griped unsatisfied.

"Why don't you go and talk to your friends" She encouraged with weary cheerfulness "Look, Tim, Mark and Neil are all converging on Dean. Why don't you join them and buck him up with a drink. I'm sure he'd like that more than anything."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Clark asked suspiciously.

"Yes."

Seeing his friend already had a beer in hand, he snagged one for himself and turned to leave, but swung back to warn lightly "Don't go running of with any wedding guests in my absence."

"I'll try to restrain myself" She promised and sent him on his way with a wave of relief.

Making his way over to the knot of men, Clark greeted the greeted the groom with a hearty slap on the back "So how does it feel to join the ranks?"

Gulping down a mouthful of beer, Dean smiled in relief "Well listening to nothing but wedding chatter from Carol the last few months was a pain in the ass, but keeping the wedding night firmly in mind; thanks for the tip by the way, I feel pretty bloody fantastic knowing all the hard work is over and the best is yet to come."

The men cheered and raised their glasses in accord.

His brows rose inquisitively "Now you tell me; who won the bet?"

"What bet?" Tim asked innocently.

"Don't give me that!" Dean sneered in return "I know how this town works. So I knew the minute word got around that Carol intending moving to Smallville to live with me, that bets would start being placed with Merv on when we'd be getting married; who won?"

Clark's mouth turned down "Well it wasn't me."

"Me either" Tim shook his head sadly.

"Nor me" Mark sighed heavily in disappointment.

"Ditto" Neil tossed in last.

Stopping beside the group of men, Lucy tapped her husband on the shoulder "Tim, do you mind taking Matthew for a bit; he wants to be with his daddy."

Passing his drink to Mark, Tim reached out for his nine month old son whose arms were outstretched in expectation "Hey champ."

Matthew cooed in return to the smiles and greetings aimed his way then began to play with his daddy's tie.

"Thanks" Looking from one man to the other, her brow winkled "This is a happy occasion, so what are all the long faces for?"

"We're commiserating because none of us won any money on Dean and Carol's nuptials" Her husband answered downhearted.

"Oh! Well cheer up; maybe one of you will win the next one. This time it was a draw between Irma Williams and Martha Kent" She informed them cheerfully and with a kiss to her son and husband's cheeks respectively, strolled off unaware of the bombshell she'd dropped.

Waiting until she left, Clark winced embarrassed "My mom won."

Neil patted him on the shoulder in sympathy "I know how you feel buddy; remember it was my mom who won for Mark and Tina's."

The men looked at each other silently then looked away.

"This is just plain mortifying" Tim announced baldly "We're all intelligent men. We can walk around town with our heads held high because we know stuff; we know tons of stuff. Yet it's the older women who always win these damn bets; what's wrong with this picture?" He demanded looking at each man in turn.

The men hung their head and shook them sadly in shame.

Undeterred by their posture, he continued "I'll tell you what's wrong; these women know something we don't. Gladys Newkirk won the pot when Lucy and I got married. Mavis Dixon won it for Lois and Clark's wedding, Gloria Harper won it for Mark and Tina's, and today it's a tie between Martha Kent and Irma Williams." He shot them all a look of unity "These women must have a system and all we need to do is get inside their heads to figure it out. It's time we started thinking like them."

"We need to think like a woman?" Mark asked in disbelief.

"Yeah but not just any woman's, the older one's specifically" Tim confirmed solidly before looking at his son "Pay attention buddy, because one day you'll need to know this."

Mathew garbled out something that sounded like a tiny hoot to his daddy's sage advice.

"Have you ever tried to get inside a woman's head pal; it's a scary, scary place" Clark shuddered dramatically.

"Do we want to start being winners or stay losers forever; speak up or forever hold your peace?" Tim asked solemnly.

"I don't even want to try getting inside my fiancées head, much less another woman's" Neil muttered feelingly.

Their ears pricked up "Your fiancée?" Mark asked curiously.

He shrugged bashfully "Yeah, I asked Chloe to marry me and she said yes."

Once all the slaps on the back and hand shaking in congratulation had been dispensed with, Tim announced definitively "It's a matter of pride that one of us wins for that one; agreed?"

They all nodded rapidly in accord.

Neil coughed and pointed to himself "Technically, it's only you lot who'll have something to be ashamed about if you don't win; not me. I'm not allowed to bet on my own wedding remember?"

The men glared at him then began to look delighted when Dean put in "Actually he's right but that also extends to me regarding today and all of you regarding your own weddings, which means..."

"Which means the older women don't know things we don't; they were just lucky" Clark jumped in with a jeer.

"And we can't do anything about luck, because she's a fickle lady" Tim summed up cheerfully.

"Um...what about all the other weddings they've won money on, and we haven't?" Mark asked hesitantly.

This time the men turned and gave him a dirty look.

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for that but I don't have time to think about it. I've got wedding guests to see to, so it's time I began to circulate" Dean muttered uncomfortably before beating a hasty retreat to re-join his new bride.

Wanting to laugh at the ridiculousness of his statement but likewise wanting to get away, Clark turned and seeking out his wife, smiled as if being summoned "Lois is waving at me, so I'd better go."

Similarly trying to think of how to gracefully abandon the conversation, the remaining three men turned a beaming smile of delight upon Tina when she came over to join her husband "They just announced that dinner will be served soon, so everyone can start making their way into the marquee when they're ready."

"We're ready" All three announced so loudly, she took a step back in surprise.

"We were just saying how hungry we are, so your timing was impeccable" Mark lied sunnily and quickly began to lead her away.

Grateful for the excuse, Tim and Neil likewise beat a hasty retreat to find their partners and head inside with the rest of the crowd.

oOo

_Meanwhile …._

Strolling over to where her mother in law was stationed several feet away talking to friends, Lois joined in the chatter and waited until they were alone before mock growling "Why didn't you come and save me from your son."

"Was he complaining about the finger food?" Martha asked solemnly while trying to prevent her lips from twitching since she already knew the answer. At the rolled eyes from her daughter in law, she informed Lois gleefully "I had to listen to him griping about the lack of food served at affairs such as these for years but now that you're his wife, I consider it to be your duty to do it."

"You know, when he whinged about it at Mark and Tina's reception and again at Kate and Grahame's, I just figured he needed the extra nourishment because it wasn't summer and he wasn't getting enough exposure to the sun" She muttered but at the headshake and seeing the laugher in the older woman's eyes, she leant forward and whispered baffled "Why does he even care about the food, when he doesn't need to eat?"

Likewise lowering her voice, Martha replied with a snicker "I asked him that once and he said…" Breaking of when a waiter stopped beside them with a tray of drinks on offer, the two helped themselves to a glass of wine and smiled in thanks. Taking a fortifying sip, she continued "He said that since he's going to all the bother of eating just to appear human, then he expects others to do their part by ensuring there was plenty of food to fill a man of his size up."

"Why am I not surprised he'd have an answer available that a person can't argue with?" She asked dryly amused.

"Hello ladies." Appearing at their side, Merv Chesney smiled in return of their greetings before addressing the elder of the two "Come and see me sometime next week Martha and I'll have your winnings for you."

"I won" Martha asked surprised.

"You and Irma Williams tied" He confirmed genially "You'll each get about thirteen hundred a piece; maybe a little more but not less" Leaving her with a pat on the arm of congratulation, he ambled off to inform Irma of her good fortune.

Lois whistled impressed "Over a grand each, that's not a bad day's taking."

"Not bad at all" Martha smiled pleased and tapped her glass against her daughter in laws.

"Do you have any ideas what you're going to do with it?" Lois asked curiously.

"Well I saw this beautiful winged armchair that I wanted for my bedroom, but put off buying it due to the expense. Now though, I can get it and still have plenty left over for a rainy day" She replied buoyantly.

"So Martha, I just overheard Merv telling Irma the good news; congratulations" Carol Marshall popped up beside them, completely unconcerned that it was her wedding date the older woman had won money on.

"Thank you dear and best wishes to you" Stepping forward to press a kiss to the new bride's cheek, Martha smiled at the happiness radiating from the younger woman "You look beautiful."

"She always looks beautiful but today she's glowing" Anne Beard said as she stepped over to join them. After likewise pressing her lips to Carol's cheek, she took a step back and feigned upset "If I didn't already like you so much, I could hate you for being so stunning."

"The very first time I saw Carol, I hoped she'd have a rotten personality, so that I'd have reason to hate her" Lois slung her free arm around her friend's waist and squeezed "Instead she was so darling, that I couldn't help but love her."

Carol smiled brightly in reply but since that was the expression she'd been wearing all day, it was impossible to tell if she was tickled by their compliments or just plain tickled from being so happy.

At the arrival of Tina, Chloe and Anne Donaghy, the group grew louder as the woman began to discuss the ceremony, the clothes and all things wedding.

At the first break in the conversation Chloe jumped in "Guess what?" Seeing the huge smile on her face, they all waited in expectation "Neil asked me to marry him."

The women squealed as one and passed her from one to another to be hugged and kissed.

"When?" Lois demanded forthright.

"When did he ask or when's the wedding?" She asked excited.

"Either."

"Well I don't know when the wedding's going to be, since I haven't had a lot of time to get used to it yet." She grinned and held up her hand "As you can see; there's no ring and that's because he proposed to me during the ceremony."

"You don't mean…." Carol trailed off pointing to herself, causing Chloe to chortle but nod in confirmation "Yep, he muttered it to me while you and Dean were exchanging vows."

While the women sputtered with laughter, Chloe shook her head but the smile on her face couldn't be diminished "Anyway, I quietly asked if he really meant it and he mumbled that he's been hinting for over a week now but since I was apparently clueless, he decided to simply ask."

"And all of this was going on during the ceremony?" Lois snorted amused.

"Yep and unfortunately I missed a good portion of it but what I saw was really beautiful" Chloe admitted shamefaced, causing peal after peal of laughter to ring out from their group.

"Does that mean you'll be moving back to Smallville for good?" Tina asked curiously once their mirth had calmed.

"Uh huh, I've been looking into moving back for a while now but put it off because there weren't any positions available at either the Smallville Gazette or the Smallville Ledger but a couple of weeks ago the Ledger did advertise for a staff reporter and although I haven't heard whether I've got the job or not, I'm going to chuck mine at the Planet and move back here." Relieved that none of the women were looking at her like she was crazy, Chloe nevertheless gave a negligent shrug "Some of my friends at work think I'm absolutely nuts, but I know that I'm not."

"I don't think you are dear" Martha smiled reassuringly "A job won't keep you warm at night and love is a lot harder to find, as I should know."

"Exactly" Lois winked and gave her the thumbs up "You can get another job any old day but you can't get another Neil; good on you Chlo."

"Thanks" Smiling blindingly at all, she shared openly "It's taken me 17 years to find love again after thoughtlessly throwing it away when I was younger, but I learned my lesson and now that I know what's important, I'm holding onto him." At the grins, she finished sassily "So sometime in the next couple of weeks I'll be back here permanently, and the first thing I'm going to do after setting up house with Neil is to plan our wedding. I intend to pin him down, before he has a chance to change his mind."

Chuckling, the women raised their glasses in salute.

Taking a sip of her drink, Martha looked at her daughter in law thoughtfully "You know sweetie, since you came back to Smallville there's been an awful lot of match up's."

Coughing out her drink, Lois laughed like a loon when Martha asked bewildered "Did I say something wrong?"

Calming down, she waved one hand "No, you didn't say anything wrong. It's just that Clark accused me of that not long ago."

"Well he's right and so is Martha, but I never realised it until now" Anne Beard snickered "In the last two years, there's been non-stop engagement parties and weddings. First there was yours and Clark's nuptials, followed swiftly by Tina and Mark's…"

"I had nothing to do with that" Lois interrupted to plead innocent "They would have gotten back together without any help from me."

"True but your little accident did speed the process along" Tina grinned cheekily "Kate and Grahame tied the knot a few months later..."

"Once again, that had nothing to do with me" Lois tossed in chirpily "They were already an item when I came back."

"Ok we'll forget about them but there's also Ginny and Trevor…."

"Not me" Lois interrupted to announce proudly "Trevor came to Smallville with the intention of visiting with his family the week before his baby brother's wedding, met Ginny again and proceeded to be chased by her during all the festivities." Giving Tina a chiding look, she remarked mock innocently "You should know that since Mark is the brother in question."

Tina laughed and stuck out her tongue but didn't have time to reply before Martha enquired gently "How are they doing dear?"

"Really good" She supplied promptly "Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to get to know Trevor very well because he left Smallville after his wife Robin passed away, which happened before I started dating Mark and to be honest; he struck me as being somewhat aloof on the few occasions that I've met him." Pausing to catch her breath, Tina made a face at herself "From what Mark's told me though, his brother was much like himself before Robin died, so meeting Ginny was the best thing for him. She's not only made him happy again, she's going to make him a father in about 6 months."

Exclamations of delight rang out from all present.

"They called two days ago to tell the family all the news…" Shaking her head, she relayed candidly "He was laughing and joking and boy….sounded nothing like the brother in law I'm used to chatting with. Anyway, he told us that Ginny was expecting, they're going to have a very small informal wedding and are moving back to Smallville sometime in the next couple of months."

"Did you talk to Ginny as well?" Anne Beard asked curiously.

"Yeah and she's so happy that she could burst" Grinning hugely, Tina leant forward and told them confidentially "I didn't know this, but apparently she used to have a crush on Trevor when they were at school. However, he was a lordly senior and she was an insignificant freshman, so of course he didn't even deign to notice her but that's all changed. The time was right for them to meet again when they did and both their families are thrilled to bits they're coming home again." Turning to Lois, she narrowed her eyes interrogatively "And don't think I've forgotten what we were talking about either."

"I haven't said anything" She protested laughing.

"Just as well" She sniffed unimpressed "So getting back to it; Carol and Dean met because of you and lookie here, where are we today?"

"At our wedding" Carol smiled happily "Let's not forget that Anne and Evan are also together and they wouldn't have met if Annie hadn't come to live in Smallville when I did."

"That's right" Anne bobbed her head in swift agreement "I might have met Evan on one of my visits with the two of you but it's just as likely that I wouldn't have, and we'd both be with the wrong someone else now."

"Then we have me and Neil" Chloe tossed in and when her cousin's mouth opened, held up one hand to stay any comments "Don't bother saying I would have met him again one day when I dropped in to visit Clark, because I wouldn't have. I didn't come back to Smallville for over 12 years and the only reason I did, was because you were here. Luckily I met Neil through my many visits with you and Clark and that's how we got together." Pausing for a breath, she smiled winningly "Then we also have my friends Paula and Gail who during one of their visits with me to Smallville, met Mike and Sy respectively, coupled up and from all accounts are still coming along swimmingly. With the way things are going, I wouldn't be surprised if one or both those couples got married, their sisters come for their weddings, meet someone and so on and so on."

"Isn't that Dean's brother over there, talking with Megan Forster" Martha pointed over to a spot in the garden, where an attractive dark haired man was chatting animatedly with the pretty redhead.

Turning, Carol saw her employee chatting animatedly with one of her two new brothers in law, and nodded "Uh huh, James is Dean's younger brother. His older brother Sean and his wife Cheryl are the couple standing a couple of feet away, chatting with Kate and Grahame."

"So James is single then?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Mmm, very much so but unlike Dean and Sean, he intends to remain that way." Taking a sip of her drink, she smiled lopsided "He's stated more than once that he's not interested in settling down."

"A lot of men say that dear and I suppose they mean it well enough but that doesn't make it necessarily true, as we all know." Martha waved one hand around to indicate where they were, causing the ladies chuckled in agreement.

Turning around at the tap on her shoulder, she smiled warmly at Mavis Dixon and soon the two older ladies strolled off to join Carol and Dean's parents in pleasant conversation until the call of dinner was announced and the group broke up to find their respective partners.

oOo

_Later that night_

Lois sighed and pressed her face into her husband's neck breathing in his scent. She loved being surrounded by him especially after they'd just made love. His hand stroking softly over her back and bottom felt so blissful that she wiggled closer.

"Clark."

"Mmm."

"Do you remember a long time ago, well no it wasn't a long time ago because I'm not talking years…" She paused and corrected herself for the second time "Actually I am but only a little more than 2, so it was before we were a couple….well we were but not really, I mean our relationship wasn't serious so you couldn't really say…um maybe I should start again."

Wondering what she was struggling to get out that had her full of nerves, he lifted up on his elbow and smiled encouragingly "What's up sweetheart?"

Feeling emboldened by his words, she asked somewhat shyly "Do you remember we talked about kids?"

His stomach jumped with a mixture of apprehension and joy "Yes."

"Do you remember that I said I didn't want them?"

He nodded encouragingly and held his breath.

"You never said how you felt." Pushing to sit up, she grabbed her robe and after pulling it on turned to give him her full attention.

Likewise sitting up, he answered steadily "I'd love to have children Lois but you have to remember that my appearance is all a façade. I look human but I'm not and everything about my physiology is different to a human's. I don't even know if it's possible for me to father a child."

Feeling overwhelmed by his words, she swallowed the lump in her throat and remarked in a voice thickened by tears "Do you know; I love you more after what you just said than I did before you said it."

Seeing a look that bordered on adoration in her eyes, Clark asked huskily "What did I say my heart?"

"Stop; or you'll have me crying like a baby." Swiping one hand under her nose, she smiled at him wetly "I never thought about your race possibly dying out with you and yet…."

"I accepted it years and years ago sweetheart so it's not a big deal." He smiled offhand.

"Yes it is…" She began only to be cut off when he interrupted to state candidly "No Lois, it really isn't. Once upon a time it was but that was when my thoughts rarely strayed from the subject of me; me being the last of my race, and me being an alien, and me having powers and me being alone forever; me, me, me. Do you know what I learnt from all that?" Not giving her time to reply, he confessed candidly "That self-pity is an ugly emotion that should be stamped out, not nurtured and it's not the shit that befalls a person which determines their fate, it's their attitude towards it. On the day I came to understand that, I realised that I could continue to spend every hour of every day of the rest of my life stewing over all the crap that I couldn't change, or I could let it go and be happy for more than 5 minutes at a time." Giving her hands a squeeze, he told her truthfully "I chose to discard the former to embrace the later and getting rid of that monkey on my back was the best decision I ever made. I've truly never been happier than after I cleaned out all the junk in my life once and for all."

"I'm glad, I really am but it's still a huge deal to me Clark and do you know why?" When his mouth opened, she pressed her finger against his lips "Because although your chances of having children with any woman maybe slim, with me it was non-existent since you knew I didn't want them. Yet you married me anyway, instead of passing me over for the opportunity of one day meeting a woman who you knew would have been happy to at least try."

"I want children Lois but I want you more, so passing you over never even entered my head." When her smile bloomed, he scooped her into his lap "You come first in my life sweetheart and since you didn't want kids, the subject was closed as far as I was concerned."

"And what would you say if I told you that I've changed my mind?"

"I'd ask if you were sure" He replied without pause.

Her lips curved "Yes."

"So you want them?" Clark clarified slowly.

"Yes."

"You sounded so definite when you said that you didn't; are you certain babe?" He asked again but before she could answer, added forthright "Kids will change everything Lois and there's no going back and changing your mind afterwards."

"I know and I know they're a lot of work, which is why I never wanted them before." She answered honestly and without dissembling. Scooting out of his lap, she knelt on the bed beside him "This isn't a fleeting whim on my part Clark, I've thought about it long and hard. I started thinking about it almost a year ago but didn't want to raise the subject, until I was absolutely certain that I was ready to make that commitment." Smiling crookedly, she confessed candidly "The reason I didn't want kids before, was because I didn't want to be responsible for another person. I know that's selfish but after practically raising Lucy while we were growing up, I felt that a little selfishness on my part was well deserved." At his laugh, she gave a blasé shrug "Anyway, that's why I wasn't interested. I know kids are a lifetime commitment and it's not one that I believe should be made with a begrudging heart. It's all or nothing for me and now I'm ready to give my all, if you want to as well."

"I am but I have to be honest too." He recaptured one of her hands and squeezed it gently "I wish that I could guarantee I'll be able to give you children Lo, but I can't. I don't want you to set your heart on it and get all excited, only to feel let down because my side can't do its job." He took a deep breath and told her flatly without emotion "I'm scared that this will come between us and you'll one day look at me with regret or resentment because I'm unable…"

Her free hand slapped over his mouth "Don't ever say that to me again. I will never resent you for something that's out of your control Clark. We're in this marriage together, so it's not a case of you can't have children or I can't. It's _**we**_ can't; understood!" When his head bobbed, she removed her hand and cupped his face in her palms "You still loved and married me knowing that your slim chance of having a child was gone Clark. I'll never forget that, nor cease loving you if it turns out we can't after all. I don't need babies to be happy darling, I just need you."

Tugging her into his arms, he took possession of her mouth and only drew back when they were both breathless. Pressing his forehead to hers, he smiled into her eyes "You can make me angrier, faster than anyone else on earth and you can drive me crazy until I don't know which way is up, but I'll always be grateful that you came back to Smallville and saved me from a life of dreary debauchery."

Gurgling out a laugh, she sat back on her heels and looking at him militantly "Ok, so from now on we'll stop using birth control and if nothing happens, so be it; deal?"

"Deal!" Diving towards his bedside table, Clark grabbed the two boxes of condoms stashed there and tossed them in the direction of the waste bin and wiggled his fingers "Where are your birth control pills?"

Giggling, she smacked his hand "I ran out a couple of days ago and haven't had the prescription refilled yet, which is why I've had you take care of it."

Feeling excited, his lips titled jauntily "So from now there'll be nothing between us when we make love."

"Nothing at all" She confirmed demurely.

His eyes darkened "I've never had unprotected sex before."

"Neither have I."

Leaning forward, he crowded into her space "Just the thought of us making love without protection turns me on like you wouldn't believe."

Throwing herself into his arms, Lois fluttered her lashes playfully "Will you stop metaphorically beating your chest and just take me."

"With pleasure" Whipping the shirt over her head, he tossed her down before swooping on top and enjoyed her squeal of laughter in his ears and the feeling of her surrounding him as they rolled over the bed.

oOo

_3 years later: January 4__th_

Stretching before settling more heavily into the couch, Clark looked down at the squeak of warning and remarked drolly "You're the one who insisted on lying beside me and now you're worried that I'm going to roll on top of you?"

Woofing in reproval, Attila turned onto his back in a blatant hint for a tummy rub.

"You know pal, I don't get women. You'd think Lois would have had enough of shopping from hitting the Black Friday sales after Thanksgiving but nope. Christmas is barely over and what'd she do?" Attila ruffed and kicked his paws happily in concert with the scratching of his tummy. Confident the mutt understood, he lifted his eyes heavenward "That's right, she gets me to drop her in Metropolis so that she can go and spend money."

He looked at the beast and lifted one shoulder bemused "Why she'd want to be out there with all the crowds beats me. When I need to buy boring stuff like clothes and such, I make sure that I know what shop it's in, what aisle it's in and how much it's going to cost, then I get it and get out real fast." Stopping to take a breath, he cocked his head inquisitively "You know what I feel like doing right now boy? Scrounging up whatever left overs we have in the fridge from New Years Day; how about you?"

Letting out a plaintive whine when all he received was a companionable pat in response to his bark, Attila rolled over sadly.

"C'mon pest, let's go raid it now." Heading into the kitchen with the dog at his heels, he opened the fridge and after inspecting the content, looked down to inform his companion "Well the good news is that we have plenty of leftovers and I know most of them are edible because Lois didn't cook them. We'll just pass over the stuff she did make and hope she doesn't decide to warm them up for dinner tonight." He paused and cocked one brow "Actually just to be on the safe side, when she comes home I'll simply tell her that I think we should have takeaway tonight since she must be tired from all the shopping she's done, and I'm willing to fly anywhere in the world to get what she wants."

More than happy with his cleverness, he reached into the fridge to retrieve the goodies but at the falter of Lois' heartbeat, shot out of the house and zoomed into the sky.

Hoping his errand would prove to be a false alarm as had been the case on many occasions over the past 4 years, Clark tried recalling all the times he'd swooped to Lois' aid, only to find that she was perfectly alright, and the reason her heart had taken off in a gallop was for some innocuous reason that didn't require his assistance, but the litany did little good since few times when she had gotten herself into trouble by dashing off to help someone, insisted on intruding in his consciousness.

He'd tried arguing with her, he'd tried pointing out that she wasn't invulnerable so had no business getting herself into tricky situations, but nothing he said made the least impression. As far as Lois was concerned; if she had a vision of someone being hurt, then she was sorry if he didn't like it and even more sorry that she didn't have the time to give him a call to chat about the situation first, she had to do something, end of story.

For his part, he understood why she felt that way but didn't like knowing she put herself into danger and didn't care if he had to swoop to her side a million times and discover she didn't need him, he'd rather do that than to assume she was alright and lose her due to inaction. He'd almost had to live with that outcome once; on the day she'd been stuck on the platform. He'd never make that mistake again.

Nearing the city he sharpened his vision in on his quarry and the breath strangled in his throat at the sight that met his eyes.

Lois was on her hands and knees on the railroad tracks with a commuter train bearing down on her.

He could see the dread on the drivers face knowing he wasn't going to stop in time, could hear the hellish screech of the brakes, and could see that Lois was scrambling to get up but in her agitation couldn't get her footing on the gravel between the sleepers.

What she was even doing on there where more than one person had been killed due to their arrant stupidity in using that open stretch as a pathway, instead of walking the extra 30 feet to the overpass bridge where all traffic and pedestrians were supposed to cross, he could only guess and determined to berate her for later. Right now, saving her was his priority.

Plunging down, he plucked her up and shot back up into the sky, shuddering in relief that she was safe and hauled her into his arms in a bone crushing hug. He could feel her heart crashing against his chest, could hear his thundering in his ears and for the first time, truly understood how parents who were terrified when their children were in danger, could be absolutely furious when their babies were safe and sound, because that was how he felt now.

Refraining from giving her a good shake, he nevertheless snapped heatedly "I don't give a flying fuck what you saw in a vision that required you to go traipsing onto the railway line, but if the only way to get it through your thick head that you're never to do anything so foolhardy ever again is to tan your hide so that you can't sit down for a week, then so help me god I'm going to do it the minute we get home; is that clear!"

"I didn't have a vision" She sniffled against his chest.

"Then what in hell were you doing there?" He gritted out harshly.

Weeping in reaction, she burrowed in closer "I was…it was an accident. I thought that I could make it before the train came but I tripped and…and I couldn't get up. I tried but I couldn't and I was so scared."

Hearing her words the blood congealed in his veins and as she snuffled and mumbled in disjointed phrases, an unaccountable feeling of nothingness began to spread inside, while a hard blank look stole over his face.

Unaware of the change in the man holding her so safely, Lois kept her face pressed against Clark's throat as the tears rained down her cheeks and the violent tremors quaking through her body continued unabated.

Numb, his mind empty of thought, Clark didn't say a word as he began to fly; not knowing where he was going and not caring either.

Unwilling to loosen her hold on him but desperately needing a tissue when her crying jag was over, Lois swiped a hand over her face and sniffed once then again before giving up to dig into the purse strung around her neck for a tissue. Blowing her nose heartily, she pressed her lips to the side of his jaw and murmured "Thank you."

Snuggling in, she laid her head on his shoulder content only to frown in bewilderment a moment later at the geography below. Nothing looked familiar. They weren't headed toward Smallville of that she was sure, and she thought it was unlikely they were still in Metropolis because she couldn't see any of the familiar landmarks. There were some wharves and warehouses in the distance but their layout was different to those near Suicide Slums, so she knew he hadn't flown them in a circle to approach Metropolis from a different direction. They were approaching a city, one that was near a large body of water but which city was anyone's guess and for that matter; which state?

As ridiculous as is sounded, she didn't think they were in Kansas anymore.

"Um honey, where are we going?" At his lack of response, she nudged softly "I'm feeling ok now so you don't have to keep flying around if you'd prefer to go home. I'd really like to keep shopping and I promise to be more careful from now on, so you can drop me off near the shops if you like." When he still didn't reply, she grabbed his chin and tried to turn his face towards hers but feeling the resistance in his neck muscles, she let go and clasping her arm around his chest once again, added hesitantly "Or if you have somewhere to be, I'm happy to go with you."

Unaware of the inflexibility in his body but very aware that she was speaking to him, yet disinclined to converse with her, Clark continued flying until he spotted an old building that had seen better days. Automatically x-raying around to ensure no one was insight, he flew inside and landed in a large dusty room on the second floor unsure of what to do next.

Wondering what was going on when he didn't set her down, but just stood there with his eyes aimlessly flittering around the empty warehouse, Lois cleared her throat softly hoping to get his attention while likewise taking in the view of the room. The graffiti on the walls, the tossed aside newspapers and garbage, the ratty cloths and the torn stained mattress in the corner which caused her to shudder in revulsion, told her that either kids played there or squatters lived there. Grimacing in distaste, she looked at her husband to find him still gazing around the room as if unsure of where he was "Clark."

He could hear her breathing, could feel her heart beating steadily sedately against his chest but had the queer sensation that nothing was real. Yet he knew that he wasn't dreaming because he felt cold. No, not cold; freezing. The weather normally didn't bother him one way or the other but now that he was noticing just how cold it was, he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"Darling, are you ok?" She asked troubled and reached up to touch his face but he turned it aside and quickly set her down on her feet before taking a step away.

When her legs began to buckle, she reached out to grab onto the wall, just as he swiftly reached out to hold her steady.

"I thought you said that you were ok" He asked in a voice devoid of emotion.

"I am, but my legs feel like jelly." She smiled hesitantly but the smile slid of her face when instead of softening, his face became harder, sharper.

She'd never seen him like this. He was looking at her with a detached expression in his eyes but there was something lurking underneath and it made her feel distinctly wary. Trying for nonchalance yet treading cautiously, she reassured lightly "I'm a little bit woozy but I think that's because my life flashed before my eyes prior to your rescue."

His lids flickered and his jaw clenched tight before smoothing out.

"Are you ok now?" He enquired civilly.

Feeling her antenna quiver in nervousness, Lois smiled minutely hoping to make a dent in his iceman demeanour "I really am thanks to you. I thought for sure I was a goner but you saved me." Blowing out a soft breath she shivered slightly "But my god that was close."

At her words emotion sprang back into his eyes and the aloof veneer that had enclosed his heart, exploded in fury.

"Close!" He repeated furiously and dropping his hands onto her shoulders, dragged her forward a step "It was close; is that what you said?" When she winced his hands fell away to drop uselessly to his sides but the muscles in his arms continued to ripple and bunch in time with the clenching and unclenching of his fists.

She didn't want to answer but knowing he wasn't going to be satisfied until she did by the way his jaw was thrust out aggressively, she cleared her throat nervously and tried to lighten the tension in the air by replying as conversationally as possible "I…well yes because it was close and you know what they say, a miss is as good as a mile."

Her response only caused the rage he was feeling to escalate and skyrocket.

"Oh for _**FUCKS SAKE**_ Lois!"

Storming away Clark strode around the large room raking his hands through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck trying to bring his anger under control so that he wouldn't spew it out all over her. Feeling fractionally less disturbed 5 minutes later, yet needing some distance between them, he stopped on the opposite side of the room and spun to face her but seeing the cell-phone in her hand, his blood pressure shot up as the needle spiked once again.

Swivelling around he drew back his fist and smashed it through the wall, causing concrete and bricks to crumple and plaster dust to explode outward with the force. Withdrawing his arm, he pounded at the wall over and over using both fists as the burning rage roiling in his gut burned hotter and brighter until it was a conflagration out of control.

oOo

Completely stupefied, Lois watched her husband beat the hell out of the wall not daring to say a word, even as the dust thickened and pillowed around him, around her. Coughing, spluttering, she waved one hand as the plaster dust danced around the room and watched as the chunks of bricks and mortar continued to pile up around Clark who seemed oblivious to everything except his intense desire to annihilate the wall until it looked like a huge piece of Swiss cheese.

The picture he made should be funny, except it wasn't. She didn't know why he was so angry but wasn't so stupid that she was unaware it had to do with her mishap.

She'd felt concerned by his stillness earlier, then she'd felt wary by the look in his eyes that she couldn't decipher, now she felt…..she didn't want to say alarmed because it reeked of her admitting that she was chicken but yeah; that was about right and she didn't like it.

She wasn't a yellow belly and never had been but, and it lowered her to admit it but, when she'd tried to downplay events in order to jolly him out of frigid mantle he'd adopted and was scorched by the blast of fury that sprang up in his eyes, she'd had to lock her knees together so they didn't bang like castanets. What was even more galling was that she'd felt a huge surge of relief when he let her go to stalk away and pace around the room. Unfortunately, her relief hadn't lasted for more than 3 second because his body language conveyed the strong emotions he was wresting with and if she'd still been dim witted enough not to pick up those clues to his temperament, the air turning blue from the string of epithets that poured out of his mouth would have done the trick.

What she didn't understand, ok she didn't understand much of anything right now but what really baffled her was what had set him off the second time. She'd still been busy trying to figure out why he was so enraged the first time when his second eruption took her by surprise. She'd seen him calm down earlier. It had taken a good 5 or 6 minutes of pacing before it happened, but she'd swear the worst of his temper had been dealt with. However, he no sooner took one look at her than his face turned vermillion with rage and he was demolishing the living hell out of the wall.

It took him less than a minute to reduce the once grimy wall into rumble but the compulsion to beat the crap out of something raged on. He wanted to tear and break and render the whole building until there was nothing left but a pile of bricks, and had to forcibly stop himself from doing so. Shaking from the effort of holding himself back, he stood with head lowered and arms hanging loose but at the slight noise from behind, whipped around.

Wondering if it was her imagination or if she could actually smell sulphur in the air, Lois halted mid-step and swallowing down the squeak that wanted to pip out, decided not to walk over to ask her husband to ask if he was ok. The dust in the air wasn't so bad where she was, in fact it was lovely and she wouldn't mind getting a lot more of it, but the air around Clark looked to be pretty smothering and getting closer would be a bad idea unless she had a strong desire to choke to death or cough up a lung. She'd stay where she was.

Seeing her trying not to breathe in the air thick with powder and dust, Clark zoomed out and up into the sky, gyrating furiously until every particle had been shaken loose from him before zipping back to pick her up by the elbows and swooshing them to an abandoned office on the floor above. Whirling, he hit the door to slam it closed but instead sent it sailing across the cavern of the room beyond, where it splintered into matchsticks upon impact with a concrete beam.

"Thank you" She gasped fervently in gratitude and drew in a huge lungful of plaster dust free air.

"**SHUT UP!**" He yelled stalking back, coming to halt in front of her.

"Wha…"

"Don't think I haven't figured out that you were so busy talking on the fucking phone, that you nearly got yourself killed" He snarled and capturing her hand, held it up for her to see that she was still clutching the instrument in a tight grip.

Having forgotten that she was still holding it, Lois stared at the shiny new cell-phone she loved and began timidly "I'm sor…."

Snatching the phone from her hand, he threw it hard against the discarded filing cabinet at her back "You're not getting another one."

Appalled at what he did, her mouth dropped open in shock "You broke my phone."

Capturing her chin in one hand, he stared hard into her eyes and demanded savagely "Did you hear what I said?"

"If you think…"

Letting go of her chin, he gripped her arms and hauled her up until her eyes were level with his "Did you hear what I said?"

"I heard, but I'm getting one anyw…."

"No you're damned well not!"

"I need…."

"I don't care what you need! You can use a public phone or wait until you're at home and use the one there but you're not getting another cell-phone; got it!" Clark roared, indifferent to the storm clouds he could see gathering in her eyes.

"You can't tell me what to do, I need a phone" She returned mulishly.

"Tough shit!" He blazed in return.

Starting to feel more like a lion than a lamb with his dictatorial attitude, she pushed her face into his "I'm getting one."

"If you do, I'll break it!"

Hearing the dead-certainty in his voice, she protested heatedly "You can't break my phone."

"Watch me!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? It was an accident; haven't you ever had one?" Lois asked infuriated.

"With me! What the hell's wrong with me!?" He shouted incensed "I'll tell you what's wrong with me. Seeing my wife almost die in a senseless tragedy because she cares more about her damn phone than she does about her life, is what's wrong with me."

Temper melted in the face of his accusation and feeling really small for causing him grief, she bit her lip guiltily "You're right; I'm sorry Clark." When his face didn't soften, she forged ahead feeling supremely foolish "I was having a snack when I overheard some women talking about these great sales that were over at the retail outlets and figured it would be quicker if I took a shortcut to the warehouse district via the railway tracks, instead of going the long way round using the overpass bridge." Seeing his eyes flash with wrath, caused her to mentally wince in dread at what he was going to say about her next revelation. Swallowing nervously, she affirmed in a faltering voice "I was on the phone when I saw the train but…but I only spared it a cursory look and thought it seemed far enough away for me to make it safely across with time to spare, but I slipped on the wet grass beside the track and fell onto it, which caused my phone to fly out of my hand. I know that I should've left it there but I didn't and then I realised how close the train was and panicked when I couldn't get up; I'm sorry."

Her apology meant less than nothing and didn't pacify him in the least.

"You're sorry!" He laughed scornfully and went on in a voice dripping with sarcasm "Well I guess its ok then, since you're SORRY!" Grabbing her by the shoulders, he tempered the force of his power and gave her a little shake "Is that all you can say to me?"

"I…well I…yes I'm…" Conscience-stricken but unable to think of anything to say in her defence, she said lamely "I'm really truly sorry for scaring you."

He looked at her in silence before his lips swooped down to claim hers as his hands clenched in her hair to hold her to him, while his tongue plunged inside her mouth to ravage and plunder.

Stepping forward to make her move backwards, he kept going until she was pressed up against the wall and keeping her body trapped there with his, reached down to tug at the zipper of her jeans.

Dragging her mouth free, Lois gasped for air and tried to push his hand away but didn't manage to gulp more than one deep breath before her lips were caught by his once again, while his hand brushed hers impatiently aside. Tugging and pushing at the material of her jeans until they were down around her knees, he grasped the waistband of her panties and ripped them off before sliding his knee between her legs to keep them apart as his fingers began to rub and caress the soft flesh between her thighs.

"Mmm…Cla….mmm….Clark…" Finally managing to wrench her mouth free, she swallowed the moan that wanted to rip out of her throat and took shallow breaths trying to fight against the desire growing in her belly at both his touch and the hard determination on his face. Grabbing onto his wrist in an effort to pull his hand away, she wheezingly gasped "Clark stop; what are you doing?"

"You know what I'm doing." Ignoring the hands pulling on his wrist, he continued to move his fingers over her softness, deliberately sweeping the tips over the heart of her entrance again and again, grunting in approval when the moisture seeped out. Sinking one finger inside her channel then a second, he rubbed them over the inner tissues while the pad of his thumb rested on the side of her clitoris, rotating over and around the bud steadily causing the blood to rush in and her juices to flow more freely. Eyes glittering fever bright, he growled in a welcoming manner "Keep tugging sweetheart; you're just helping by pulling on my wrist."

Letting go, her fingers found purchase in the muscles of his upper arms, while her face pressed hard into his shoulder.

Pressing his knee forward until she was straddling his thigh to keep her legs open to his insistent fingers, he plunged them in and out, twisting and turning, opening her wider in preparation until the palm of his hand was saturated, soaked by her secretions.

Groaning aloud at his ministrations, she trembled with the effort to suppress the urge to rub herself against him, and digging her head into the notch between his shoulder and neck, shook it back and forth helplessly "We can't."

"We're going to" Dragging of her coat, he tossed it aside and grasping onto the hem of her sweater and shirt, pushed both up to her arm pits and unclipped her bra. His mouth latched onto one breast, while his hands clasped her waist to hold her upright as her body began to tremble and slide downwards. Lips, tongue and teeth played over one breast then the other before his cheek rubbed gently over the mounds, scratching delicately at the hardened nipples.

Wanting him, wanting this, wanting to crawl inside his skin but knowing they couldn't. Knowing she had to stay sane because he wasn't thinking clearly, all while fighting against the clamouring needs of her body, Lois bucked against him and let out a disappointed cry of relief when he let her go. Simultaneously glad that he'd come to his senses, while biting back the desire to yell at him for assuagement, she slumped against the wall and squeezed her eyes shut tight then jumped at the vicious curse that was ripped out of him and echoed in the quiet of the room. Eyes flying open, she stared at him blankly, barely able to think past the lust thundering in her veins.

By the time she did understand why he'd let her go, he was reaching for her again.

Having released her only long enough to dispense with the pants section of his Superman suit, Clark swore brutally as the skin tight material refused to give. Grabbing the fabric in both hands, he ripped it in two and almost whimpered in relief when his erection sprang free. Stepping forward, he settled himself heavily against her and rocked his pelvis steadily in the notch between her legs until his penis was nudging at the entrance to her core.

Feeling the hard turgid length of him prodding at her, Lois sucked in her breath sharply and heaved out in desperation "Home."

"We're not going home; here!"

"We can't…you made…you made a lot of noise breaking…." Stuttering to a halt, she tried to remind herself why this wasn't a good idea and slammed her hands onto his chest in an effort to think without him so close. Feeling the silkiness of spandex under her fingertips, sanity returned. If they were caught, their privacy and their lives would virtually be over "Clark; with all the noise you made earlier, we could get caught." Feeling her eyes cross when he bit down on her neck, she strained against him and half mad with wanting, called frantically "You….you're wearing...Clark….Su...Superman, remember."

"I don't care." And he didn't. The only thing that mattered was being inside her; everything else was irrelevant.

"Cla…"

Lifting her up, he impaled he onto his penis, pushing steadily until he was as deep inside as he could go.

"Look at me!"

At the command in his voice, the lashes that had begun to flutter down flew up and the breath caught in her throat at the stark, naked emotion etched in his eyes and focused completely on her.

Hooking his arms under her thighs to keep her spread wide, he began to hammer his hips back and forth in a piston like motion, so fast that she couldn't keep up. Boring his eyes into hers as his body continued to drive and plunge in and out, he snarled viciously "You have no right to tear at my heart this way; no fucking right!" Not sparing her any quarter, he drove into her like a man possessed, feeling her body jolt with each movement. Finesse wasn't important, nor was gentleness; the emotions rioting inside him not caring about either. It couldn't last long; it was too raw and primal and passionate for that. Staring into her darkened eyes, he saw the moment she started to fall and determined they would fall together, grated harshly "Tighten your muscles around me."

Grunting with effort, his teeth drew back from his lips and his testicles drew up tightly beneath him as the pressure twisting inside grew and grew and with a last deep lunge, he gave a throaty moan of relief just as she let out a high pitched cry and taking her with him, he crashed to his knees with her astride. As their hips continued to twitch violently against each other's and the breath wheezed out of their lungs, her head dropped to lie on his shoulder, while his fell back weakly.

Feeling utterly wrecked and gloriously exhilarated, Lois dragged in air greedily while the jolting convulsions of bliss continued to thrum through her body. Her mind awhirl with half thoughts of praise, she wondered if she was supposed to thank him or not remind him what he'd been angry about. Angry; wow what an understatement. They'd had had angry sex before but that was when they'd both been feeling nasty but this….HOLY MOLY! His aggression had been a little bit fearsome and whole lot toe-curling. Amazed that she'd survived the experience yet wanting to know how soon they could do it again, she asked huskily "Are you still mad?"

"Yes, and you're going to find out just how mad when I fuck you again as soon as I recover" He muttered hoarsely. Dropping his gaze to hers, he saw the anticipation she wasn't quick enough to hide and narrowed his eyes warningly "You think I'm kidding; I'm not!"

"I know you're not" She answered truthfully, seeing the grim cast to his face.

Not finished, he stated emphatically "You have no right to be so thoughtless with your life Lois; no right!"

Trying to recall why his words sounded familiar, while feeling like a louse for what she'd put him through that day she repeated humbly "I'm sorry Clark, I truly am."

"Sorry isn't good enough" He denounced in a hard voice and gripping her chin, forced her face up again "I can't stop you from risking your life because of the visions, but I'll be damned before I accept you being so cavalier with our lives because you're behaving like an idiot." Uninterested in listening to anymore more apologies, he pressed his thumb against her lips and declared roughly "I want us to have a lifetime together Lois, not a few lousy years and if I have to keep you chained up at home just to get that lifetime I'll do it; do you understand?"

Feeling her belly flutter at the authoritarian note in his voice, she nodded penitently.

As the storm inside him grew still, a different kind of stirring begin to awaken causing his lips to crook up.

Letting out a strangled gasp when his penis hardened inside her, Lois jumped when his hand slid down her back to her bottom and under "What are you doing?"

"Didn't we already have this conversation?"

"Yes, no…" Eyes widening in both delight and dismay, she murmured unsteadily "You can get us home in less than 5 minutes."

"But I thought you wanted us to go at it again?" He taunted softly while his fingers danced gently over the moist warm flesh of her sex.

"At home, not here" She clarified raggedly.

"Why not here?" He asked disinterested and before she knew what he was about, he speedily pulled off her jumper, shirt and bra off and tossed them aside.

Stunned, Lois looked down at herself "I'm naked."

"Not quite, I've still got to get your jeans off" He replied and began pushing the bunched up material off her legs.

"Will you stop; someone could walk in." Trying to slap his hands away, she looked through the doorway worriedly.

"No one's going to walk in, this is an abandoned building" He reminded her absently. Ignoring the hands slapping at his, he floated up slightly from the floor so he could push the jeans off completely only to scowl in annoyance when they snagged on her boots.

"It's an abandoned building that you were breaking it up not 10 minutes ago and given how much noise you were making, I wouldn't be surprised if someone heard it and called the cops who are likely converging on us as we speak with a swat team for a back-up." She took another glance through the doorway and shuddered "Can you imagine what'll happen if they come bursting in?"

"I can imagine it all too well and since I have a reputation to uphold, I insist we make it good so they can see for themselves why I'm called the man of steel."

"Clark, this is serious" Lois growled irritated.

"Yeah it's so serious that my dicks getting harder just thinking about it." When she only sighed unamused, he sighed in return and told her patiently "Babe no one's going to come bursting in. I don't hear any sirens and I don't hear anyone talking or whispering to each other outside. There's only you and me and a few rats; that's all."

"Rats."

"Well I can hear them squeaking, but they're not in here so there's no reason to get tense."

"No reason to get tense; are you crazy?" Burrowing closer to him, she looked around the room suspiciously.

"Lo, they're scurrying around on the ground floor, while we're up here nice and safe" He reassured soothingly and gave her hip a companionable pat "Now can you please get rid of your boots, so that I can get rid of your jeans."

"My feet will get cold."

"I'll warm them up with my heat vision."

Sighing, she nodded in defeat and tried to pull them off but found the task too hard in her current position "If you'll just let me up…"

"Nu uh, you're not going anywhere" He cut in to announce emphatically and cupping her bottom in his hands, squeezed the globes gently.

"I'm not a contortionist" She grumbled but with much muttering and manoeuvring, finally managed to yank them off. Exhaling huffily, she looked at Clark ready to complain again but ending up giggling at the cross eyed look on his face.

"Do you have any idea what all that squirming and jiggling was doing to me?" Humming in appreciation, he floated upwards so the pants could be dispensed with properly before reaching up to unclip his cape, allowing it to drift down and land in a puddle of red silk on the floor.

Impatient for the taste of her, he ran his tongue up the column of her throat "Help me get my suit of sweetheart."

Happy to oblige, she tugged down the concealed zip at the back and with his help, managed to push and shove the clingy material around his waist. Once free, he hauled her forward and crushing her against him, slowly rubbed their upper torsos together, revelling in the friction of her hardened nipples, forced upright by the chilly air, dragged against and flirted with his.

Clenching her fingers into his back, Lois felt her eyes glaze at the delicious feeling of his rock hard chest chafing against her breasts, then hissed in pleasure when he grasped her legs and slid them around his waist, pushing his penis deeper within.

Holding completely still, Clark whispered tantalisingly "Whoever moves first; loses."

"Loses what?"

"Just loses."

"That's not fair" Lois moaned fighting to keep still "With one wrong move I can fall but you can't."

"You know that I'd never let you fall" He reproved in a hurt voice.

"You're a pig!"

"Because I won't let you fall?" He queried innocently while his shoulders shook with laughter.

"Because I know very well you've got us up here to stack the deck in your favour to win" She repudiated crankily.

"Now that's not very nice…" He tut tutted her reprovingly "Especially when the reason I've got us stuck up here is because the concrete floor will hurt your knees, and the poor little things have taken enough of a beating today."

"Bullshit! You just enjoy having sex while we're floating and…"

Knowing by the sudden stiffening in her spine that Lois was struggling to remain immobile, Clark grit his teeth as his muscles likewise strained against the desire to move. Her tissues rippling all along his penis was so sublime, he wanted to howl at the crime of having to hold himself back. Aware that he wasn't going to last another 5 seconds, he breathed against her ear "You enjoy it too."

"Yeah but not…." Mewling out loud as a delicious feeling of bliss snaked up her spine when his mouth began to play with the lobe of her ear, Lois lost the battle and giving in to the sensations that had been building up inside her, didn't even hear his low triumphant laugh as she began to heave and rock and twist on him.

Figuring that he owed it to her to let her take what she wanted since he'd cheated by going for her weak spot, the one he knew very well drove her crazy when he was inside her, Clark held Lois safely intending to simply enjoy the ride of his life, but the sight his wife's whole body straining as she thrust herself down him over and over, listening to her mutters while her head thrashed back and forth and the hair flew around her face was too much for him. Unable to wait for the spasms in her body to die down, he clamped his arms around her waist with the aim of pounding into her, but the grip of her muscles on his penis was so tight he could only thrust a few times before he exploded in a shattering climax that triggered a second one in Lois which came so hard on the heels of the first, that she screamed with the intensity of such mind blowing pleasure.

As hearts calmed and breathing returned to normal, lips nuzzled against cheeks and necks while hands fondled lazily. Floating them back down to an inch above the floor, he sighed and pressing his lips to her ear, smiled when at the slight quaking in her body. Leaning back slightly, he stroked one finger over her cheek "We'd better Lo, with all the noise you were making we probably will have the cops bursting in thinking some poor woman is being murdered."

Smirking proudly when she turned beet red, he floated up enough so they could stand and tugged up his suit while enjoying the suit of his wife bending over to retrieve her shirt, only to stop when she began to howl with laughter.

Unable to speak, Lois waved one hand in his direction screaming in laughter, causing him to look down to see the huge rip in the front of his pants.

Trying to pull the front closed, he tore it some more and growled "Shit, if anyone sees me in these, they're going to know exactly what Superman's been up to."

"Or they'll start making jokes about the penis of steel" She howled holding onto her sides.

Wrapping the towel around his waist, he waited patiently for her laughter to die down while fully appreciating the view of his wife's breasts bouncing and jiggling with every heave of her lungs.

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Lois grinned entertained "I could make a million with just one photo of you like that."

"We'll save it for when we need the money" He grinned in return "I'm going home to change and will be back for you in a minute."

"Wait…" Picking up her torn panties, she tossed them at him "Throw these away while you're at it. I'm not leaving them here."

Holding them aloft, he asked conversationally "Can I rub them on my face?"

"Ewww."

Laughing, he whirled home and returned less than two minutes later.

"What took you so long?"

"Attila woke up when I swooshed into the house, so I paused to give him some food which is what I was about to do earlier."

Bobbing her head, she finished pulling on her clothes then sidled up to him and asked kittenishly "Are you going to buy me a new phone?"

"Nope."

Her face fell "But that was my Christmas present and it had lots of cool stuff on it; I loved that phone."

"I know you did" He replied unmoved "You spent weeks hinting to me what you wanted and just in case I missed all the clues, you left several brochures lying around the house with that phone circled in red marker and the colour you wanted written in big letters."

"I wanted to be sure you didn't make a mistake" She whined and ran over to pick up what was left of the instrument but seeing there wasn't much, her shoulders slumped.

Strolling over, Clark looked at the destroyed phone and gave it a kick for good measure then sneered when it turned to dust upon impact with his boot.

"What'd you do that for; it wasn't hurting anyone?" She moaned pitifully.

"It was a phone, not an animal" He retorted dryly and clasping her hand, raised it to his lips "I'll make you a deal, but only if you swear nothing like today will ever, ever happen again."

"I do."

"Swear it!" He demanded inflexibly.

"I swear" She vowed sincerely and crossed her heart.

Satisfied, he offered magnanimously "In return for giving me your word, I swear not to break your new phone when you buy it."

Outraged, Lois gasped "What kind of deal is that?"

"The only kind you're getting" Clark returned mildly and tugged her into his arms.

Rubbing her cheek on his shoulder she asked sadly "So you're really truly not going to buy me a replacement Christmas phone?"

Tilting up her chin, he saw the crestfallen look on her face and confirmed impassively "I'm really truly not."

Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"Do you still want to go shopping?"

"I no longer have the heart for it." Lois sighed fretfully "It's not easy being married to someone so stingy."

"Then let's go home" He replied calmly and felt his lips twitch at the reproachful look she shot him "You can take my card and get yourself a new one."

Squealing, she snuggled in and rocked in happiness "You're the sweetest man ever."

"I think you mean I'm the biggest sucker ever" He grumbled before cupping her face in his palms. Keeping his eyes dead straight on hers, he informed her seriously "You've given me your word Lois, and I'm trusting you to keep it but if there ever comes a time when you even think about breaking, just remember that I won't be so easy to bring around your thumb next time; understood."

"I won't break it" She reassured once again before asking inquisitively "But FYI, I must have missed the part about bringing you round my thumb; when did that happen exactly?"

"If you don't already know, I'm not telling" He retorted blandly and scooped her into his arms.

Hooking her arms around his neck, she pressed her lips to his ear "I can get myself a new phone tomorrow; I want to spend the rest of the day at home with my guys."

"Yeah."

"Yeah…" Pressing one finger to his chin, Lois told him softly "For some strange reason that I find impossible to define, I love you madly."

"More than Attila" He hinted broadly.

Suppressing a smile, she pressed her lips to the spot on his chin where her finger had rested "He's my little cutie-pie, but you're my biggest treasure."

Preening, he smiled chuffed "I love you too."

oOo

_7 weeks later_

Closing the front door at her back, Lois tossed her purse on the couch as she stepped through the lounge on the way to the kitchen looking for the guys. Peering out the window, she nodded unsurprised at seeing Clark taunting Attila with a ham bone, while the dog continued to pull and tug with all his not inconsiderable might.

Joining them, she asked tolerantly "Why must you insist on teasing him?"

"Because it's fun" Clark grinned wagging the bone back and forth, laughing when the dog's whole body shook with the effort of holding on. At her poke, he sighed deeply and insisted "Babe; the little shit enjoys it!" With her second poke, he gave up and nodded "Fine, I'll play nice."

Smiling wickedly, he let out a snarling growl which caused the animal to growlingly tug harder on the bone clenched between his teeth. At the third poke from his wife, he let go and laughed uproariously when Attila went rolling backwards over the grass. Slinging an arm over her shoulders, he tugged her to him and pressing his lips to hers, grinned cheekily "That was your fault, you made me let go."

Welcoming her home with a happy yap and a lick of the toes before running around them in circles, Attila finished by lifting up on his hind legs in hopeful expectation.

Taking the hint, Lois scooped him up and pressed a kiss to his nose "Hello cutie."

The dog woofed joyfully at the sound of her voice then wiggled to be put down before racing over to scoop up the bone in his jaws. Trotting back he dropped it on Clark's foot then gave it a nudge indicating it was still play time.

With a smirk Clark obligingly scooped up the bone and waved it right in the animal's face. Just as Attila's jaws snapped closed, he swung his arm up high causing the beast to yap and jump frenziedly.

"Hon, before the two of you get too involved in your game, I have some news" Lois told him eagerly.

"Mmm" Allowing the animal to grab onto the bone, he raised his hand and chuckled when the animal refused to let go even though he was dangling in mid-air "Babe, I think that we should hang Attila up on the wall like this and if anyone asks, we'll just say its art. What'd you reckon?"

"I reckon you're as bad as each other" She retorted and clasping the dog's body tugged gently "Let go boy." The dog growled and shook his head. Stroking his back coaxingly she called soothingly "C'mon sweetie; let go." At his growl, she firmed her voice "Attila Kent you let go right this minute."

Having gotten used to that tone, the beast unclamped his jaws barking in thanks when Clark handed the bone over. Setting the animal down, she rolled her eyes when the animal sat down at their feet and once more set the bone down on her husband's foot with a hopeful whine.

Seeing him bend down to retrieve it, she shouted "_**Don't!**_"

Dropping the object as if it was a hot rock, he protested grouchily "We're only playing."

"I know but I want to talk to you."

"Fine."

Indicating to the dog it wasn't his fault their fun had been interrupted by gesturing minutely in his wife's direction, Clark looked at Attila as if to say 'blame her', and allowed himself to be towed over to the porch swing.

Occupied with trying to recall the words she'd practiced on the way home to tell him their news, Lois missed the by-play between man and beast and responded to his sulky tone by asking playfully "Honey, you think I'm a pain in the butt right?"

"Yes and especially now when you won't let us play" He mumbled peeved and sent the dog, which had followed them, a long suffering look of male camaraderie.

Grasping his chin, she turned his face to hers "Well guess what?"

"What?"

"You're supposed to guess" She teased almost bouncing with excitement.

"Baby please" He begged piteously.

Laughing, she burst out excitedly "In about 7 and half months, there's going to be another little pain around the house that's part me and part you."

Clark's face was a combination of stark terror, amazement and joy. She didn't know it was possible for anyone to wear all those expressions at the same time, but he was pulling it off in spectacular fashion.

"Lois."

She heard both hope and the disbelief in his voice and nodded madly "It's true; I'm pregnant."

"How?"

"How?" She asked cheekily.

"I mean when…no I mean how, no I mean….hell I don't know what I mean." Feeling equal parts terrified and thrilled to bits, he confessed flummoxed "I honestly never believed it was possible Lo, I just didn't want to say it out loud and jinx our chances."

"Well I thought it would take a miracle and I'd already used up my share when I found you again." Grabbing his hand, she held on tight "I only went to see Dr Lee because I'd noticed a number of changes in my body and felt different in a way that I never had before. Even when he insisted on doing a pregnancy test, I thought it was a waste of time since I've never had even one close call all this time but he was right; we're going to have a baby."

"When?" Clark asked eagerly.

"Well given the approximate due date, I definitely conceived just after Christmas" Lips twitching, she said solemnly "I have a feeling it was from our shenanigans in the warehouse. Maybe seeing you breaking my phone, scared my ovaries into releasing a trillion eggs to give at least one your swimmers a fighting chance."

"Or maybe it made my guy's yell; he's the man, before all my soldiers surged forward determined that one of them would storm the bastion at last" He chuckled and scooped her into his arms "Just think, one day soon when my friends are babysitting their kids, I'll have a little tyke to add to the menagerie of Tim, Mark, Dean and Neil's." Tickled at the prospect, he hugged her close "I'm finally going to be the one boring my friends stupid by talking about my offspring, the way they've bored me talking about theirs."

Snickering, she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm going to build a nursery" He mused out loud while picturing it in his head.

"I know darling" She replied unsurprised.

"How do you know?"

Giving him a droll look she replied answered complacently "Well since it's almost become a competition between your friends to see who can build a bigger and better one whenever their wives are expecting, I figured you'd want to get in on the action now too."

"Uh huh and just wait until you see what I'm planning. Our nursery is going to be really cool and have all the mod-cons."

Well recalling some of the remarks made by her friends regarding their husband's activities, Lois pressed a finger against her eye to stop it twitching and cautiously prompted "Honey, it's supposed to be a nursery for a baby, not a house for the royal family."

"Mmm" Lost in his own little world, his eyes glowed with gusto "We'll go to the Home Depot tomorrow and after I finish getting all the lumber I need to build the cabinets and crib, we can check out all the others stuff they have like wallpaper and drapes and things. I was thinking the room across the hall from ours would be perfect and…."

"That's my workroom" She piped up in protest.

"Yeah but you don't need it and our baby does, so we'll just move your stuff out and…"

Listening to him run on, she muttered sourly "I love the way that you calmly kick me out of my workroom, while skilfully managing to hang onto your office."

Deaf to her words, he carried on excited "I'm thinking of building a niche, with a nice cosy window seat where we can curl up together and watch over our baby; what'd you think?"

"I think that I remember all your big talk about promising to build me a bay window in our bedroom well over a year ago" She muttered sulkily.

"And I will…" The words tripped of his tongue readily "But I can do that any old time, this is important."

"Charming" Lois snorted amused.

"Thanks" He bobbed his head in acknowledgement, completely immune to her sarcasm "My friends have all had their chance of showing of their carpentry skills and now…"

"It's your turn to show off" She interrupted to add.

"Yep and by the time I've finished, our nursery is going to blow all of theirs out of the water" He smiled pleased with himself.

Groaning quietly but knowing she couldn't stop him and not really wanting to, Lois prepared herself for a long 7 and half months and simply made agreeable noises, as he once again took off waxing poetical about all his plans.


	19. Chapter 19

Hi everyone

Firstly, thanks for all the feedback on the last chapter, I'm glad so many enjoyed it.

Well here we come to the end of the road for P&P at last.

If I'd know when I began penning this story that it was going to be this big and take me this long to write, I never would have begun. I really thought it was going to be the shortest and easiest story I'd ever write; I was wrong! Taking two people from (if you'll excuse the expression) "fuck buddies" (and they weren't even buddies to start with) to being more, to falling in love takes a lot more effort to make it believable then simply having them meet and fall in love. However, now that it's all over, I'm glad that I did it and even more glad that it's done.

Anyway, I won't bore on anymore (I'll do that at the end, LOL).

I hope you all enjoy this last chapter.

Linda

oOo

_6 weeks later (1st trimester - week 13): approx 1am_

Quietly stepping inside the house, Clark switched on the kitchen light then looked at the doorway in expectation. Not one to disappoint, Attila dashed into the room a few seconds later to greet him with two woofs of reception then waited almost quivering in anticipation for some sign of acknowledgement.

This little routine had become their thing.

Anytime he left the house at night, Attila always greeted him upon his return as if letting him know that in his absence, there'd been someone watching over Lois. What the dog lacked in inches, he made up for in guts and when it came to protecting his adored saviour, he was like a ferocious papa tiger guarding his cub. Understanding the animal was letting him know that all was well and he was now handing the job back over to the master of the house, Clark gave him a pat in thanks "Good boy; I'll take it from here."

Standing down from alert status, the beast headed to his food bowl hoping to find some left over kibble, while Clark debated whether he should make himself a snack and do a little more work on the nursery, something that wouldn't require him to make any noise and disturb his wife, when the sound of padded feet coming down the hallway caught his attention indicating that his wife wasn't asleep as he'd assumed; which now that he thought about it was foolish, since she rarely did the predictable. One look at her when she entered the room reaffirmed that statement, causing him to blink in disbelief even as his mouth began to water.

The shower fresh scent of her body, the tantalising perfume she'd dabbed on, the dark dramatic makeup, the luscious red lips, the sexily tousled hair, the almost transparent night dress….she'd clearly utilised her time while waiting for him to come home, by pulling out all the stops and loading herself for bear. He didn't need two guesses to figure out who the great white hunter had set her sights on.

**HIM!**

Although he was eternally grateful that marriage hadn't hurt their sex life, he was staggered at the way pregnancy seemed to have galvanised Lois' libido into overdrive. In the last 5 weeks he'd woken up more than once in the middle of the night, rock hard and raring to go because his wife's artful mouth and clever hands were chasing down his body driving him insane. She'd taken to delaying his departure in the morning for a post breakfast quickie at least 3 times a week, had begun dropping by the farm for a midday pick me up and pounced the minute he walked in the door at the end of the day. He could only thank goodness that neither of them had co-workers to worry about, bosses to report to or neighbours close enough to hear all the commotion she made.

That however didn't stop his mom from figuring out what was going on. Since she pottered around the farm house while he worked there during the day, she'd have to be an idiot not to add two plus two, and his mom was no idiot but then neither was he. He'd seen the laughter in her eyes when she told him that lunch was going to be pushed back to accommodate his busy time on the farm.

Busy time! Since when and in a pigs eye!

For as long as he could remember lunch at the farm was served at 12 noon, sharp! If he wasn't at the dining table at the appointed time, he missed out or had to help himself since his mom made it clear that she wasn't running an all-day kitchen. She'd gotten that tip from her mother in law, aka his grandmother, who'd gotten it from her mother in law. So it was a long established routine that had been going since his granddad was a kid and it hadn't been broken until now. Until his wife's extreme horniness had upset the apple cart.

Nevertheless, since he had no desire or intention of discussing the issue with his mother, he was grateful for her tact on the subject. That didn't mean he wasn't embarrassed about it, because god knows he was. There were some things a man didn't want his mother to know, and one of those things was that her son was banging his wife in the tool shed at 12 noon every day, before meekly coming in to eat his lunch.

Swallowing down a sigh, he eyed the little nuisance that was the cause of his present discomfiture; the one standing before him all dolled up like a slutty beauty queen, who in turn was eyeballing him every bit as avariciously as any single-minded contestant after the crown. If he didn't love the crazy woman it would all be so very easy but he did, so it wasn't but…but he was tired.

She was wearing him out.

The Man of Steel got pooped too.

Yet the hell of it was, even now as exhausted as he was, he could feel the familiar thrumming in his blood at her nearness.

The problem as he saw it was simple; the spirit was willing but the flesh was starting to run out of puff.

Watching as she began moving towards him, hips swaying ever so gently, Clark was certain that he could hear the sound of jungle drums in the air, the kind that made him think of head hunters and gulped. Taking a small cautious step backwards, he saw the glint in her eye sharpen to a glimmer and her delectable mouth curve.

oOo

Tilting her head this way and that while studying her spouse, Lois wondered if he was looking a tad peaky before mentally shaking her head at such a silly thought. Nah, her hubby didn't get tuckered out; he was SUPERMAN!

It was her very good fortune to be married to the most indefatigable, randiest man on the planet. He could get it up any time of the day or night and pound into her like a jackhammer. Hmmm, jackhammer; now that was something they hadn't done in a while. That could maybe get her through until breakfast. Then again, maybe they should hold off on those kind of aerobics until after the baby was born?

That didn't mean there wasn't a whole lot of other things they couldn't do.

Watching his eyes sweep up and down, her lips curved at seeing him gulp. She knew that she looked good but seeing Clark's reaction was more than gratifying. Sending him a flirtatious smile, she slinked over to stand on tip toe and pressed her lips to his "Hi handsome."

"Hi" Slipping his arms around her waist, he drew her closer and felt the slight bulb of her belly bump against him "There was a time when I was the only one with sticking out parts."

Tittering softly under her breath, she smoothed one hand over his back "I love your sticky out parts."

Smoothing one finger over her brow, he asked inquisitively "Why aren't you asleep?"

"Because I'm awake" She murmured throatily and stretching against him, slipped her arms over his shoulders to press her nose against his neck "You smell nice."

"I've been rushing round helping the JLA for the past 2 hours, so I probably smell like something that died" He murmured amused.

"Nuh huh; you smell masculine, musky" Taking another sniff, she leant back and smiled sultrily "Yummy."

Taking a sniff of his shoulder, his nose wrinkled "Baby, I smell like I need a shower."

"Why don't I help you with that" Unclipping his cape, she let the garment drop to the floor and tugged the zipper of his suit down slowly.

"You gonna scrub my back?"

While one hand slipped inside the suit to stroke his back, the other moved down past his waist to cup him, as her mouth pressed against his throat "I'll scrub anything you like."

Feeling him get hard at the stroking of her fingers, she hummed softly in approval and tried to work her hand inside the bottom half of his suit, only to curse in frustration when the skin tight material of the shorts refused to give "Honey, I think you need to stop wearing these red undershorts over the suit; the damn things are like a chastity belt."

"They're also the only thing preserving my dignity, so they're not going anywhere" He negated unsteadily.

"But…"

Clasping her hand so he could think clearly without her touch destroying the few working brain cells he had left, he blew out a ragged breath before stating flatly "Babe, if it wasn't for the red skivvies I've got on, all I'd be wearing is the blue suit and my package would be sticking out for the whole world to see."

"Egotist" She sighed breathily but licked her lips in anticipation.

"I'm not bragging; its plain fact" He stated stubbornly "Spandex is a very unforgiving material that hides nothing, and the last thing I need is for some yahoo to accuse Superman of poking out their eye with his dick when saving them."

"Would you feel better about Superman not having a love life?" She asked impatiently.

Silently wondering if he should start wearing the shorts to bed if only to get some rest from the voracious woman in his arms, he pressed a kiss against the side of her head consolingly "Of course not but why don't you let me take care of it? I'll have a shower and meet you in the bedroom in a few minutes ok."

"Don't you want me to scrub your back?"

Seeing the crestfallen look on her face, he reassured swiftly "Sweetheart you know that I love having your hands on me but it's really late and we both have to work in morning." Alarmed when her mouth began to tremble, he proposed hurriedly "We'll save the water games for another time, I promise?"

"Another time?"

Knowing her emotions were volatile because she was pregnant didn't mean squat. Lois having a crying jag was a rare phenomenon that still had the power to unnerve the hell out of him. Desperate to stave it off, he vowed hastily "Anytime you like, I'll owe you."

"You'll owe me" Liking the taste of his words on her tongue, she held out one hand in expectation and smiled with delight "I like it when people owe me."

Noting the wiggling fingers, his brow furrowed "What?"

"My IOU" She prodded sweetly.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Well of course I trust you. Who said anything about not trusting you? What a singularly stupid question to ask the woman carrying _**your**_ baby" Lois retorted snippily while stepping over to the counter to pick up both note pad and pen. Passing them to him, she said helpfully "This is simply a reminder in case you forget."

"I won't forget."

She didn't blink, didn't move and didn't reply; just stared at him.

Muttering under his breath, he scribbled out an IOU and handed it over.

Scanning her eyes over the missive, she shook her head displeased "You forgot to sign it."

"Oh come on; you know who I am" Clark scoffed but when she only blinked in reply, he nudged pointedly "I'm the man who's baby _**you're**_ carrying."

And still she waited patiently with paper and pen held out.

Exhaling deeply, he took them and scratched out his signature "Happy?"

"Hmm" Humming in satisfaction, she smiled in approval then looked down to address the dog who was dancing at their heels "Goodnight cutie; see you in the morning." Catching the beast when he yipped and jumped up in reply, Lois looked into his adorable little face and cooed sweetly "I'd love to play with you some more boy but it's the middle of the night and you need your rest or you'll be tired tomorrow. Plus, just between you and me, there's another cutie here that's impatient for my attention and dying for some of my very special TLC so I can't disappoint him." Sending her husband a coy look, she batted her lashes and asked impishly "One guess who that is?" Not giving him time to reply, she handed Attila over and turned for the bedroom with a low laugh "I'll be waiting."

"That sounded like a threat. She's scary; I'm scared and what's TLC? Is it a freakish sex thing she wants us to try?" Clark whispered frantically to the dog the second she was out of earshot.

Cuddling the beast close against his chest, he protested in an undertone "I don't know if I've got enough super in my powers to satisfy that greedy woman for another 6 months boy, and I don't even want to think about TLC and what all it entails. Call me a prude if you will but I enjoy normal everyday sex." At Attila's squeaky bark, he amended hurriedly "Ok alright, so I like to mix it up a little with positions and lotions and licking stuff off but that's different to using sex toys." Shuddering, he whispered horrified "What if her overexcited pregnant libido wants us to though? What if she wants us to start experimenting with nipple rings and cock rings and anal plugs and…."

"Honeybun, I don't hear the shower running. Do you need my help" Lois hollered in a playful voice.

Eyes wheeling crazily, he ordered himself to calm down and called out hastily "I'm fine sweetheart, I'm just putting Attila to bed." Giving the dog a pat, he confessed in an undertone "Sorry boy, I was spooking myself there for a minute or two; I'm fine now but…" Bringing up Attila to eye level, he grumbled "I just love the way she says that you have to get some sleep, when the most strenuous thing you do during the day is look for somewhere to nap but me, oh no. Does she even care that I have a farm to run, a nursery to build and people to save, no! That horny woman is after my hide 24/7 and doesn't care what all I have to do, as long as one of the things I do is her whenever she calls."

Hearing the sound of the blankets being thrown back, signifying his wife was tired of waiting and coming to get him, Clark zoomed to the laundry to set the dog on his bed, then swished in and out of the shower in super-duper record time after which he zipped into the bedroom to clasp his impatient love against his chest for a mind bending kiss, before she'd even had the chance to crawl out of bed.

oOo

_One week later: Saturday afternoon at the Watson residence_

Babysitting the kids while their wives were attending a baby shower, the men sat in the lounge room of Tim's house where they could keep an eagle eye on the children, all of whom had made tracks to the play area that had been set up for them the minute lunch was over, except for 4 month old Sarah Watson who was lying in her crib and entertaining herself by chewing on her foot.

"Now that they've been fed, how about we get something for ourselves? Lucy left a platter of cold cuts and fixings so we can make sandwiches for lunch, anyone hungry?" As each hand shot up, he waved towards the kitchen "Neil, keep an eye on the kids while we grab the food and drinks."

Returning loaded down with everything they needed for a feast, the men made short work of the food and sat back content when there were only crumbs left lying on their plates.

"So how's the nursery coming?"

Gratified at being asked so he could share the progress, without having to the introduce the subject himself, Clark replied with pseudo modesty "Well yesterday I finished making the window seat and I have to say it looks great. Tonight I'm going to start on the bookcase that's going to sit on one side of it and when that's done, I'll move onto the built-in wardrobe that'll sit on the other."

Seeing the impressed looks on their faces, he preened with delight.

"Do you reckon that you'll get it done in time?" Mark asked interested.

"No problem…" He answered confidently "I have everything timed down to the last detail and although it means I'm working even longer days now that it's spring, and I'll be working even longer come summer, I intend to have it all completed about a week before Lois is due in the fall."

"Well there's no way that we can just sit on our rumps while you work yourself to the bone like that, and still call ourselves your friend." Tim said matter of fact. Ignoring the mocking look on Clark's face, he saw the hungry looks on the others, all of whom like him were dying to get their hands in on the project, and offered generously "How about we have a working bee at your place every day this week, starting tomorrow. With the 5 of us doing it together, you'll have that nursery completed before spring planting even begins."

"Forget it!"

Bummed at his refusal, they frowned at him insulted.

"Friends help friends."

"Tough!" He shot down Neil swiftly and before anyone could challenge him further, reminded them meanly "I remember offering my time and my hands but did any of you let me help when you were building yours; no!"

Recovering heroically after being so rudely reminded that he'd refused all help when building a nursery for his son, yet determined to get in on the action somehow, Dean returned graciously "Well I'm willing to make up for such an offence by seeing to it that you benefit from my experience. So why don't I just pop round your place tomorrow morning and give you a few tips. I'll even bring along my new tool box just in case I need it."

"Me too" The other three jumped in rapidly.

"Hah!" Clark scoffed rudely "You're all just trying to worm your way in on my project, but it's not going to work."

Miffed that he'd seen through them so easily and vexed that he wasn't going to let them share in the fun, the four threw him dark looks and muttered unhappily amongst themselves, while he smiled back placidly unconcerned.

"Actually come to think of it, I can't help you out unless I want to get in trouble with the wife, so it's just as well really" Tim announced suddenly. Seeing he had their attention, he made an 'eeee' face and rolled his eyes for dramatic effect "Lucy's been grumbling about needing more bench space in the kitchen for weeks now, but I told her that I couldn't do anything about it until harvesting was over with. So if helped you out, she'd kick up a fuss and it'll turn into a whole big thing. However, there's no reason why I can't start planning what I'm going to do come autumn, which should keep her happy in the meantime."

Not to be outdone, the other three also recalled things their wives had been nagging them about, and cheered themselves up with the prospect of strapping on their tool belts once more.

Figuring he'd better get in on the discussion or be left out, Clark mentioned a few tasks that Lois had been badgering needing doing around the house, which in turn got him thinking about something she'd said "Hey question; do any of you know what TLC stands for?"

"Toyota Land Cruiser" Mark replied swiftly.

"Nope….." Pausing for a beat, he amended "Well yes but in this case nope, try again."

"The Learning Channel, whose sole reason for existence is to make viewers dumber" Tim called out snidely, causing the men to guffaw in appreciation.

"That was a good one but it's still wrong" He shook his head and called "Next."

"It's one of those sayings women use to describe something that's a mess" Dean piped up.

"What?"

"You know, like a man would describe a boat that's seen better days, as a fixer upper but a woman would look at that exact same boat and say it needs lots of tender loving care, or TLC" He clarified for them and lifted his eyes heavenward "They can't help themselves saying cutesy shit like that, but I wouldn't want anyone saying that about my boat."

"Who would?" Mark grunted while Tim and Neil sneered in agreement.

"If the boats a mess, then what does that say about me?" Clark growled offended.

The men looked at him and in unison said "Huh?"

"Lois used that expression on me a few nights ago" He informed them tetchily.

"Oh um…." Lost for words but knowing what it was like when the wife said something ambiguously unflattering, they tried to nudge each other into saying something comfortingly man like and came up blank. Still, feeling relieved when he recalled that he had some news to depart that would change the subject, Mark announced cheerfully "Hey guess what; Trevor and Ginny are expecting another baby. We were all at the folk's place last night when they broke the news." Pausing to take a sip of his drink, he grinned wickedly "My big brother is over the moon of course, so after pounding on him in congratulations, I couldn't resist bringing him down to earth by reminding him that his sex life is about to come to a screeching halt."

As they all burst into laughter, Clark frowned completely flummoxed.

What? Screeching halt! What? He was lost.

As he tried to figure out the punch line to the joke they all found so funny, the men saw the lines deepen on his forehead and assuming they'd hit a nerve, abruptly sobered.

"How are you doing buddy; you ok?" Dean asked tactfully.

Unsure of what to say to the sympathetic looks aimed his way, he smiled back weakly.

"Hey, I just figured out what Lois meant by her comment" Tim announced proudly "She doesn't think you're a mess Clark. She's feeling bad because you haven't been getting any, so was trying to make you feel better by saying she's going to give you an extra dose of TLC to make up for it."

"Right!"

"What he said!"

"Exactly!"

"Huh" He blinked puzzled as his eyes flew from one man to the next, all of whom had been quick to agree with Tim's assessment.

Giving one of Clark's shoulders a gripping squeeze of empathy, Dean advised confidently "Buck up partner, I remember those dark days of the first trimester all too well and unfortunately, you've still got the darker days of the third to get through but in between those two horrible periods, you've got the second trimester and that's your saving grace." Holing up one hand, he said in a voice of reverence "Please excuse me for a moment, while I pay homage to that special time in my life."

"Knock it off."

At Mark's growl, he glared "Fine, since you insist on ruining a beautiful moment, I'll keep going. Clark, I promise you that in the second trimester, I was happy as a pig in mud. Carol was all over me like white on rice and it was awesome. Unfortunately, I had to live on memories of that time for three months after Noah was born…" Pausing for a second, he rushed to explain "….but keep in mind that for a good six weeks she couldn't for medical reasons, not because she didn't want me badly and although it was tough, I got through it." Stopping for applause, he went on a little less enthusiastically when none was forthcoming "Anyway, after all I went through, I feel uniquely qualified to advise a fellow sufferer on the dry spell he's going through having been there myself and let me just say, it's going to be raining before you know it Clark; trust me."

Clueing in that his friends were under the impression he wasn't getting any, he bit the inside of his cheek to hold back the guffaw that wanted to burst out at their misconception and their combined solicitude for him.

"Don't listen to him Clark, I'll tell you how it really is" Mark jumped in rapidly "That little dry spell Dean went through for a few months, was nothing compared to the drought that I went through the whole time Tina was pregnant. He might have got lucky in the second trimester but I certainly didn't, so don't hold out hope thinking that you will either." Looking his friend straight in the eye, he advised freely "And don't waste your energy begging, because you'll need it for crying yourself to sleep at night, when Lois tells you to bugger off if you try coaxing her." Ignoring the snickers, he forged ahead "I couldn't blame Tina for saying that to me, since she was the one the feeling so big and heavy carrying the twins and all. So I just backed off and kept my fingers crossed that she'd occasionally want to give me a big fat reward for being her supportive hubby."

"And did she?" Neil asked interested.

"No" He said flatly "And except for those 7 months when we broke up, it was the longest dry spell I've had since I was 14." Taking a sip of his drink, he mused out loud "Y'know, I told Tina that I'm certain someone sent her to me as retribution for behaving like a dog with women when I was younger and she just laughed, but I reckon that I'm right."

"14?" Clark parroted stupidly.

"What?"

"You were 14 the first time you had sex?"

"Mmm" He confirmed with a quick head bob.

"You little runt, you're younger than me and I thought it was super cool that I did it at 15." Sneering at Mark's smug grin, Dean eyeballed the other three and challenged gruffly "Can any of you beat that?"

At their reluctant headshakes he settled down pleased but not before giving the smirking Mark, a well-deserved punch in the arm.

"I wish that I could have said yes, but I was a pretty clueless kid" Neil rubbed the back of his neck before confessing sheepishly "My way of getting a girls attention when I was 14, was to shove a lizard in her face to make her scream."

"Mine was to cry as much as they did, to show them how deeply sensitive I was" Clark hooted and added tongue in cheek "I did everything except get a period."

Spitting out his drink, Tim cackled uproariously "I used to make funny noises with my underarm."

The hilarity that ensued as the men began sharing similar infantile tricks they tried to lure the opposite sex; each one worse than the last, caught the attention of the children who abandoned their toys in favour of staring at their daddies.

Calling a halt to the merriment, Mark simultaneously grinned and groaned "You guys are hopeless."

"Not anymore; now we're cool" Neil boasted proudly causing the others to sit up straight, which is when the men became beware that 5 little people were eyeballing them with fascination.

Silently praying they hadn't heard anything that could be repeated, since small children could be frighteningly tactless and wives extremely pissed, Dean cleared his throat and knocked Tim's arm, who knocked Clark's, who stepped on Neil's foot, who elbowed Mark who with the other men sent a beaming smile at the children and called out gaily "Are you guys having fun over there?"

As one, the kids bobbed their heads and replied "Uh huh."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Looking."

Smiling wryly at the logical response, the men stared at the kids who stared back unblinking. However, seeing their daddies were no longer acting silly so weren't worth their attention, the children lost interest and went back to their toys.

Taking a minute to determine if they were safe, while also ensuring that no little ears were close enough to hear what they weren't supposed to, the men relaxed.

"Now where were we?"

"Never mind where we were, what I want to know is how you managed to talk some sweet little 14 year old into going all the way" Tim grilled Mark curiously.

"I didn't say she was 14, I said that I was" He corrected fastidiously.

As one, the men sat forward intrigued "How old was she?"

"All I'll say is that she was older than me, and since I was smart enough to know that she wouldn't touch me with a barge pole if she knew how young I really was, I lied about my age." Recalling that day long ago, his lips curved "Unfortunately, there was no way that I could hide my inexperienced fumbling, so was thrilled to bits when she took me in hand to show me the ropes." Sweeping his eyes over them, he questioned "So what'd you reckon was the most exciting; getting behind the wheel of your first car or getting a woman under you for the first time?"

"Woman" They responded simultaneously.

"First time you had sex or meeting your wife" Neil asked next.

"Can we pretend that we had sex with our wives the first time we met them?" Tim asked after thinking about it for a moment as Clark, Dean and Mark looked on hopefully.

"Yes."

"Wife" They called out immediately.

"Now answer the question again, but this time no pretending" He challenged mercilessly.

"Fine, but this time you have to answer too" Tim growled miffed.

"Hell!"

Chewing it over while debating with themselves, the men thought and thought but refused to say, until Dean finally gave in by griping unchivalrously "If I say sex, Carol will somehow know and then I'll be in trouble; so I'd better say wife."

Agreeing with his assessment, they all repeated "Wife."

"What gets me is that I know very well if Lois was talking to her friends, she'd say sex but still expect me to say wife and of course I will because I'm too gutless not to" Clark scowled blackly "She owes me big for this."

The men bobbed their heads and muttered in agreement.

"Let's forget about these stupid questions and get back to what we were talking about before…" Turning to Mark, he nudged helpfully "You were saying that Tina wasn't interested when she was pregnant…"

"Nope, I could have offered that woman a solid gold Rolls as inducement, and she would have told me to bugger off" He grunted in reply before cocking up one brow "But I guess you know all about that at the moment huh?" Taking the good natured chuffing in stride, Clark smiled without comment which is what Mark seemed to expect as he continued "But the good news is that after the twins were born, Tina was back to thinking I was the cat's meow and was eager to mingle limbs with me again, which made me feel 10 feet tall" He explained cheerfully "So don't worry that Lois isn't into you right now, brighter days are coming; Dean's right about that."

"When Lucy was pregnant with Mathew, she was sick morning, noon and night for months, so I was just relieved when she started feeling better" Tim stated musingly "Seeing her enthusiasm return for something as simple as eating a donut made me happy, while sex was simply a bonus." Shifting on his seat uncomfortably, he confessed somewhat guiltily "But when she was pregnant with Sarah and followed pattern, sex was on my mind a lot since I knew what to expect."

"Did you tell her that?"

"Are you kidding? I wasn't about to say anything at the time" Tim scoffed before asking in return "Do you tell Lois stuff like that now?"

"Well um I….no" At their jeers, he nodded sheepishly "These days I don't know when she's going to blow a gasket, burst into tears or be all mushy with me."

"Or do all three in rapid succession" Dean put in dryly.

"Yeah" Turning to Neil, Clark smiled crookedly "Don't bother putting in your two cents worth, I have a pretty good idea what you're going to say."

"Actually, I got off pretty easy" Neil replied prudently but when interest turned in his direction, he waved one hand to divert attention from himself and rushed on candidly "But from all I've heard today, you just have to bite the bullet for now and pray that you won't have to wait until after the baby comes before getting some again."

Making noises of agreement, Clark debated whether he should spill his guts and the truth along with but as the decibels from the play area chose that moment to rise, the conversation was abandoned as the men got to their feet to see what was going on, and ended up watching their little ones completely charmed.

Neil's 18 month old son Lucas was carefully stacking up his building blocks, before knocking them down, only to begin stacking them up again. Mark's two year daughter Emily was chatting to her dolly, while pushing it in the stroller as her twin brother Aaron made high pitched zooming and crashing noises racing his toy police car, fire truck and Thomas train over the floor. Tim's three year old son Mathew was cheerfully banging away on his Bob the Builder tool set, and Dean's 2 year old son Noah was tottering around the play mat tugging on his pull toy babbling loudly to himself. Hearing a loud laughing gurgle, they turned to look baby Sarah and grinned at her squeals of joy as she rolled back and forth burbling words that no one could understand.

"All of Lois' nutty behaviour may be driving you bonkers right now Clark but believe me, when you get something as wonderful as them out of it, you'd sign up for another round in a heartbeat" Mark said sincerely.

Seeing them all nod in agreement, he smiled hugely in reply and decided it was best not to disillusion them with the truth, since he was certain that all sympathy for him would fast dry up, while impatiently looking forward to the day when his little one would be among those he was presently watching.

oOo

_Meanwhile: at Anne Beard's parent's house…_

Sitting with a bunch of women in the lounge room of the Miller home, Lois listened with half an ear to the comments by those gathered as Anne opened all the cute, darling and downright adorable gifts she'd received for the coming addition to her family.

Thinking about the number of baby showers she'd attended in recent years, her lips curled in amusement; the men in Smallville were certainly a fertile lot. A few years ago the town had been in the grip of wedding fever, now it was going through a baby boom. In the last 5 years just counting her friends alone; Lucy, Carol, Tina, Annie, Chloe and Ginny, 8 new babies had been born and that wasn't including the one's she, Kate and Anne Beard were currently expecting.

Coming back to the present when a beaming Anne thanked everyone for the gifts she'd received, Lois smiled then scooted forward in her seat eagerly when Leona Miller, Anne's mother announced that food was next on the agenda, and invited everyone to help themselves to the feast that had been laid out.

Murmuring appreciatively, the women made a mad dash to the dining room and began to demolish the food with fiendish enjoyment, while exchanging gossip, baby advice and talk in general.

Wanting to get in quick when those in her circle stopped talking long enough to eat, Lois quickly tried to gobble down the mini quiche she was chewing by washing it down with a gulp of water but was foiled when Ginny burst out impetuously "I'm pregnant."

Happy for her friend but peeved that she hadn't gotten a chance to speak up first when the questions starting pouring out, she sighed then grinned when Ginny said "Thanksgiving" in reply to when the baby was due from Lucy.

"Is Laura excited?" Kate asked inquisitively.

"She's thrilled to bits and doesn't mind whether she gets a baby brother or sister; she's just looking forward to playing with them" Ginny explained as her eyes twinkled happily "Trevor and I have tried to explain that she'll need to wait for the baby to get a little older but she's already lining up things for them to do together, so I think she'll have to see the baby to really understand."

As others overheard the talk and strolled over to join in, Lois eased herself away and made a beeline towards another group, determined to get her bit in. Stopping beside Tina, she listened impatiently as the women jabbered on about baby this and baby that but unable to wait any longer, threw one quick look over her shoulder to ensure Martha hadn't drawn closer and seeing the woman was engrossed in conversation with a group of older ladies, interrupted to ask excited "Why didn't any of you tell me that being pregnant is like having a superconductor attached to your libido; was it a secret or something?" Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the surprise on their faces and lowered her voice still further "I used to wonder why people had such large families in the old days, now I know it's because the women discovered how much more fantastically stupendous sex is when pregnant, so kept churning them out just to get more."

Stopping to fan her face with one hand, she finally registered the goggling eyes focused on her and the dead silence her words had evoked. Knowing that she'd blundered but unsure of how to extricate herself, she nudged tentatively "Um…right"

Seeing the slowly shaking heads and hoping that she'd simply misunderstood the stupor they seemed to have fallen into, she tried again "What I mean is that when you become pregnant, it's like someone's flipped a switch and boom; you're overwhelmingly horny all the time. Sex, sex, sex; you fantasise about it all day and dream about it at night. It's a drug and you're an addict and it's so mind-blowingly spectacular that you want to burst into song or..." Pausing to catch her breath, she saw that mouths had dropped open, and feeling the heat of embarrassment scorch her cheeks at having gotten carried away, concluded lamely "Or something like that anyway."

Forcing herself to blink, Carol swiped one hand over her forehead "Lo, I can only say that I wish it had been the same for me and I'm jealous as hell that it wasn't." Needing something, she picked up a chocolate cookie and biting in explained "I've had a healthy sex drive, since the day I first discovered just why boys are so deliciously different to girls but when I was expecting Noah, my drive was in park and it stayed there the whole time except in the second trimester."

"Really; you didn't even feel a twinge of desire in the first?" Lois asked uncertainly.

"Once or twice but I was usually feeling too lousy from heaving my guts out to want it in the first, and too tired to even think about it in the third." Taking another bite, she contemplated thoughtfully "Even after Noah's birth it took several months for me to be in the mood again, which is pretty depressing since I happen to think sex is very important, but at the time I truly didn't miss it. However, with time my drive returned and Dean was more than happy to show me how grateful he was about that."

"How grateful?" Anne Parks asked solemnly.

"Extremely" She assured them with such a secretive smile, the women licked their lips in accord.

"Well I can't empathise with Carol or rejoice with Lois" Chloe revealed simply "Except for a couple of bad days, I pretty much sailed through my pregnancy. I didn't get morning sickness, wasn't repulsed by food and although I felt a little tired on occasion, it wasn't enough to put me off sex. Even labour and delivery was easy for me." When the women turned on her and glared, she added meekly "Sorry, but if it makes you feel better, I also didn't get the crazy burst of lust hormones in my second trimester, so maybe that was my punishment."

"You were all luckier than me" Tina said feeling slightly miffed "Pregnancy had a crippling effect on my love life. I not only didn't want sex, more often than not I didn't even want to be touched. I kept waiting for that period when you're supposed to feel healthy and sexy and energetic, but I just felt exhausted all the time. Some nights it was all I could do just to drag myself into the shower and then into bed. Shortly after the twins were born I was raring to go but we waited a full six weeks, and that's because Mark made us wait until I got full clearance from the doctor" Giggling lightly, she leant forward and shared low voiced "The twins are two now and we still have lots of um…fun making up for all those love starved months."

"Dean and I have the same fun" Carol put in giggling.

"You've had your turn" Lois sniped good natured, before turning to the woman on her left "Annie, what about you?"

"I had an excess of energy when I was expecting but it wasn't for sex, it was for getting everything ready in time for the baby" Anne Parks shared candidly. Seeing the knowing smiles, she nodded in confirmation "Yep, I went into nesting mode almost from the moment I found out that I was pregnant. I'd either wake up in the middle of the night to make a list of things I had to take care of, or Evan would wake up to find me doing chores around the house and although it sounds crazy now, at the time I really couldn't help myself." Grinning hugely, she added coyly "But I will say that we did have a few wild moments, especially when I went from an A to a DD."

"So for the first time in your life, you actually needed to wear a bra huh?" Carol teased lightly.

"Yep and it didn't have to be padded either" She winked cheekily.

Heaving out an impatient breath, Lois turned to the last woman in the group, who like her was currently expecting and held out a hand "You're up Anne."

"With Peter I was the same as Chloe but with this one, I'm similar to Carol" Giving her bulbous tummy a pat, she summed up neatly "I was fatigued in the first trimester, energised and frisky in the second but now that I'm in the home stretch, I'm back to feeling tired most of the time. Sorry Lois and you've no idea how sorry I am…" She stressed regretfully "…but I can't identify with you. I haven't felt overly lustful in my first trimester during either of my pregnancies. However everyone's different as you've just heard, so I think it's perfectly normal for you to feel the way you do."

"Yeah, it's so normal that none of you turned into a sex starved nymphomaniac the second you became pregnant" She countered mockingly. Exhaling heavily, she announced glumly "I thought we were going to have a giggly girly gossip about how fantabulous it was, but now I feel like a freak."

Not seeing that she had anything to complain about, Carol prodded gently "It can't be that bad Lo."

"Yes it can!" She insisted stubbornly. Determined to make them see, she pressed on "These days I seem to have enough energy to clean the house from top to bottom and still get it on 5 times a day. The worst part is that I could tell Clark was a little weirded out by my behaviour but I didn't care because…" Lowering her voice a notch, she explained "The orgasms are so strong and so long and sooooo intense that it's almost unnerving. They went from being the best thing, to being THE BEST THING EVER! I know it's all the extra blood flowing to the intimate parts of my body that's turned it into one super-sensitive erogenous zone, so is it any wonder that I'm climbing the walls when Clark's not around and climbing him every chance that I get when he is?" Blowing the hair of her face, she tacked on sheepishly "As you can see, I can't even talk about it without getting all hot and bothered."

"I wanna be a freak too" Tina announced enviously.

Nodding unhappily, Chloe snivelled "Before today I was congratulating myself on having a hassle free pregnancy, but now I feel like I was robbed."

"We were" Tina confirmed glumly "I can't even talk about awesome pregnancy sex because I was gipped."

"Me too" Picking up a chocolate marshmallow cookie, she bit in sullenly.

Rolling her eyes at them, Lois retorted flatly "At least you didn't turn into a crazy animalistic wild woman who gets off from having her big toe kissed, so count your blessings."

"Does Clark kiss it often?" Anne Parks asked blandly.

"Every now and then…" She answered automatically and at their giggles, swiftly amended "I mean he's only done it to make me squeal…" Waving one hand at their snorts of amusement, she hissed warningly "Shhhh, I mean he's done it to make me squeal when we're playing…" Feeling badgered by their continued laughter, she growled "He knows my feet are ticklish so pretends to chew.…" Groaning when the women all but doubled over, she whispered warningly "Oh for heaven's sake just forget it and whatever you do, don't let on that I told you or he'll kill me."

"We promise to take this to the grave, along with all the other little secrets we've shared about our love lives; right girls?" Carol asked shakily.

"Right but don't expect us to feel sorry for you, if anything you should be crying buckets for us" Tina informed her frankly.

"Will you stop whinging, it's my turn" Lois retorted tartly.

"Are you whinging or bragging?" Tina asked sweetly.

"Bragging; hah I wish!" She snorted unamused "There's not much to boast about when my husband's starting to look terrified of me."

Seeing the ready laughter spring up in their eyes, she scowled unamused "It's not funny; I actually caught that look on Clark's face yesterday but at the time I thought; screw it, I'm the one who has to carry this baby, so he can damn well put out whenever I need him to. However, that was when I thought all of you had been the same way when you were knocked up but now that I know only two of you turned into horny beasts in your second trimester, while Annie had a few wild times when her breasts grew into cantaloupes; I feel like a fiend for being so mean and a freak of nature with my unceasing need to…"

Arriving in time to hear the last two words, Martha asked innocently "What do you need sweetie?"

Throwing a horrified look over her shoulder to find her mother in law and a few of the older ladies had decided to join them, Lois felt her vocal chords seize up and her stomach dive at the thought of Clark's mom discovering her son was married to a shameless tramp.

Concerned by the flustered looks on the faces in the group, Martha slipped one arm around her daughter in law's waist "Lois honey, I'm happy to go and get whatever it is you need. You just tell me what it is and I'll go to the shops right now."

"It's nothing" She mumbled painfully embarrassed.

Stepping back to include the older women into the conversation, the younger ones looked at each other unsure of what to say. However, seeing the concern on Martha's face for daughter in law, Chloe advised tactfully "She's worried there's something wrong with her, because her sex drive has increased substantially since she became pregnant."

"I see" Giving her waist a squeeze, Martha advised gently "Lois sweetie, I loved my husband very much, and I never considered it abnormal to want to be close to him frequently."

Sending her a grateful smile but wanting to drop through the floor in mortification that Clark's mom must now know why she turned up at the farm daily, she coughed uncomfortably "Thanks…um well thanks."

Noting her awkwardness Gladys Newkirk piped up boldly "Talking about sex openly was strictly a no-no when we were younger, but that doesn't mean us older gals are ignorant compared to you younger ones today. We've already lived what you're going through now. We've experienced all the joys and fears of being in love, getting married, having babies and everything in between, so there's nothing you can stay that will surprise us."

While Martha and Leona acknowledged the truth of her words with murmurs and nods of agreement, Mavis added candidly "Gladys is right dear, we really have been through it all. The times were different but people were the same." Pausing for a beat, added delicately "If there's something wrong with you now, there was also something wrong with me nearly 40 years ago when I was expecting my first boy?"

Uncomfortable being the centre of attention while discussing something so personal, yet determined to get it out seeing the look of consummate relief on Lois' face, she continued dauntlessly "Since talking about sex freely was taboo, the only person I could talk to about how I was feeling was my husband, and George didn't know any better than I did. Oh sure we lived on a farm and all, but a pregnant cow is different to a pregnant woman…." Pausing at the titters of laughter, she added drolly "And back then if I had gotten up the nerve to discuss it with my doctor, he likely would have prescribed me a tonic." Waiting until the next round of giggles died down, she pressed on soberly "Maybe ignorance helped George and me because it never occurred to us there was anything wrong, we just figured my need for more frequent intimacy, was part and parcel of the whole process and not wanting to do anything to harm our child, decided to obey any urges that I had. It was only when I was expecting my second boy that we learnt no two pregnancies are the same." Smiling gently, she advised simply "So don't upset yourself worrying about it dear. There's nothing wrong with you now, just as there was nothing wrong with me then."

"Thanks Mavis; you have no idea what a relief it is to know I'm not a mutant" Hugging the older women fiercely, Lois drew back and with a huge smile confessed "I've had a little crush on George since the day that I met him. All this time I thought it was because he looked so ridiculously cute wearing long socks with sandals and shorts in summer, but now I know it's because he's a sweetheart."

"Well he's been mine for over 40 years now, but that doesn't mean I don't see a fashion mistake when he wears one" She remarked mournfully, smiling at the quick laughter that sprang up in Lois' eyes "Have you talked to Clark about how you're feeling?"

"I…" She broke off what she was going to say and admitted hesitantly "No."

"Hmm, well although I doubt that Clark is naïve about the process of reproduction and all it entails given the abundance of information at his disposal nowadays, he won't know how his wife is feeling, if she doesn't share it with him" Mavis chided gently.

Giving her daughter in laws waist a squeeze, Martha added prudently "I think in some ways being able to talk about intimate things so openly these days is wonderful, but the flip side is that if you share it all with your friends, it can unwittingly leave your husband out in the cold."

As the older women nodded and the younger looked at each other guiltily, Lois murmured conscience stricken "You're right; both of you." Firming her chin, she declared to all "From this day forth, I'm going to share every little thing with Clark whether he likes it or not."

"No sweetie, no" Martha negated nimbly "Women need their space and need their friends and need their private thoughts; that's just the way we are. It's the things that affect your relationship that Clark needs and deserves to know, so don't go overboard ok?"

"I'm glad you said that because I wasn't looking forward to deciphering his grunts when I began chatting about stuff that I know he considers crap" She exhaled loudly in relief.

Biting the inside of her cheek to hold back the guffaw, Martha murmured unsteadily "I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

Barely refraining from making a rude noise of agreement, Lois nevertheless grinned at the understatement uttered by her mother in law, while making a mental note to have a nice long chat with her husband when she got home.

oOo

_3 months later – (Second Trimester: week 25) - approx 2am_

Returning from the kitchen empty handed, Lois switched on the bedside light and shook her husband's arm "Clark." Getting no response, she shook him harder and called louder "Clark."

Shooting up to a sitting position, he blinked at her disoriented "Huh; what's wrong?"

"We don't have any sardines."

"What?"

"Sardines; the baby wants them and we don't have any" Pulling back the bed covers, she waved one hand aimlessly "Can you go get some?"

He looked at the clock, rubbed his eyes and checked the time again "You want some now?"

"Yeah" Picking up his suit from the back of the chair where he'd tossed it earlier, she thrust it at him "Here you go."

He blinked again feeling utterly lost "I thought watermelon was your latest craving; when did you switch to sardines?"

"In about one minute if you stop asking questions and start being helpful" She retorted and tugged on his arm to get him out of bed.

"I'm going, I'm being helpful" Pulling on his suit, he turned for the door then swung back perplexed "Where can I get them at this time of night?"

"Like I'd know" She countered sarcastically "If you can't find any in the shops, just grab a bucket and scoop them up from the ocean."

"Uh babe…." When she huffed impatiently, he gave up and took off.

Returning seven minutes later with a bag containing a dozen tins, he handed them over and shuddered when she ripped one open, scooped out the little buggers with her fingers and began to chow down.

Grimacing, Clark thumbed over his shoulder "Want me to get you a fork?"

Turning with her fingers still stuck in her mouth, she looked at him uncomprehending "What?"

Taking the garbled response as a yes, he zipped to the kitchen and returned just in time to stop her from scooping out some more. Ignoring the scowl on her face, he wiped down her fingers with a few moist towelettes before handing the tin back along with the fork "Use this; you'll get them out easier and won't cut yourself by accident."

Tucking in greedily, she looked down at the distinct bulge which was now her belly and grumblingly scolded "Stop kicking me! I'm eating as fast as I can."

"Is she giving you a hard time?" He asked sympathetically.

"I think she's trying to cave my ribcage in" Lois muttered crossly under her breath "If she'd badgered me for sardines earlier, I could have stocked up when I was at the supermarket today but no; she waits until it's the middle of the night and then starts booting me in the stomach because I can't shovel them in fast enough to suit her."

"Lo, I don't think she actually wants sardines because she doesn't even know what they are yet." He placated mildly.

"Pffft."

Knowing there was no point in arguing, he simply rubbed her tummy hoping to quiet their little one down.

Placing the sack on the night stand after consuming three tins, Lois exhaled content "There, I think she's appeased for now so with any luck, she'll leave me alone and I can sleep the rest of the night in peace." Throwing back the bedcovers, she climbed out "But first I have to go to the bathroom and then I need to brush my teeth."

Watching as she shuffled into the en-suite, Clark's lips curved.

Since the day Lois sat him down and explained all the changes she was experiencing in her body and thereafter gave him daily updates, there wasn't much he didn't know. Some things he knew, simply because he knew his wife, while others he was grateful not having to decipher on his own.

She bitched about the cravings, but he'd figured out that making their poor innocent baby the bad guy, was her way of apologising for making him go out at a moment's notice to get what she fancied. She told him the doctor had stressed the foetus needed nourishment, but he'd figured out that was her way of dodging the guilt for eating everything in sight. She grumbled about their defective dryer whenever her maternity clothes no longer fit, but he'd figured out that was her way of pointing out her ever expanding size, without addressing it directly.

But by far, the greatest thing he'd figured out was how to roll with the punches, since he never knew which way the wind was going to blow. Tissues were kept on hand in case a crying jag broke out unexpectedly, his ears were cocked to catch any mutters when she was on the warpath and his arms were ready to shoot out to hug her when she was feeling a little blue. He'd become adept at anticipating her moods, but was smart enough to stay on high alert since her disposition could change in the blink of an eye. Nevertheless, he'd rather live on the knife edge of all that, then take another dose of her happy hormone stage. That had been truly disturbing and fairly creepy. He'd never been so glad to have the little terror who had pockets of sweetness that he was married to back, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook farm gone!

Hearing the door to the ensuite open, he waited for her to step into the room and patted the pregnancy pillow in place, then tossed it aside when her face contorted "If I lie down I'm pretty sure all the sardines that I just ate, will come right up again."

"As long as you don't insist on sleeping in another room, I'm won't complain" Settling the pillows behind his back, Clark held out his arms invitingly and helped to settle her in the v of his legs, until she was reclining against his chest "Comfy?"

"Uh huh…" Yawning, Lois patted her hand against her mouth and snuggled in "Goodnight."

"Kiss."

Looking up, she smiled at seeing his lips puckered in expectation and puckering up hers, smacked them gently together, then giggled when he scowled ferociously "Who taught you how to smooch so good?"

"Not telling."

"I need a name so that I can go punch him up."

"You silly" She mumbled around another yawn and fell asleep.

Waiting to hear the little snores issuing from her that signified she was out, he clasped their hands together over her tummy and followed her into sleep.

oOo

_Three days later: Saturday morning approx 8.45am_

Placing the cooler packed with food, alongside the one filled with drinks in the boot of the car, Clark picked up the folding chairs and the picnic blanket and after setting them inside, headed back to the house with the intention of hurrying his wife along, only to exhale in resignation at discovering she'd set yet another bag beside the front door for him to fit in the car; this one filled to the brim with a hodgepodge of paraphernalia she'd clearly deemed it was essential they take. Knowing it was easier to do it then argue, he picked up the bag and turned for the door.

"Hang on hon; I forgot to put these in."

Swinging around at her call, he looked up to see her standing at the top of the stairs frantically waving sweaters for both of them and gave into the need to sigh in exasperation "Baby we're not going away for a month, we're just going to spend the day at Crater Lake with our friends."

"Uh huh" Joining him, she handed the sweaters over and proposed thoughtfully "Do you think we should take a Frisbee or a basketball for people to play with?" When his mouth opened, she held up one hand patiently "I know you're going to say we don't have a Frisbee but we can always stop in town and buy one; what'd you think?"

"Other than food and chairs to sit on, I don't think we don't need to take much of anything at all." Not giving her time to rebut, he continued calmly "Lo this is a family day sponsored by the Council to celebrate the fourth of July, with the opening of the new community park-cum-picnic area they just finished building beside the lake. So as there's bound to be plenty of games and events planned, we really don't need to take half the contents of the house with us, much less go shopping for more?"

"You never know what could happen and I like to be prepared for everything, which is why I've brought us each a sweater." At the long suffering look on his face, she supplied sweetly "I doubt the Council is going to supply everyone with a jumper if the weather turns and we all get cold."

"It's July, so I don't think we need to worry about that."

"You never know."

"I don't feel the cold."

"True but you'll thank me if it does get cold and you're the only person not all rugged up, when everyone else is" She summed up neatly "Anyway I've only packed the essentials and you'll be grateful when you need one of them. Now I've also filled a jug with water but it's too heavy for me to lift. Can you please get it? It's sitting in the laundry sink."

"Lo, Crater Lake is filled with water" He reminded her slowly.

"Have you never been to the beach?" She asked patiently but seeing the blank look on his face, simply shook her head "This water is to wash the dirt of our feet when we get out."

"Ok, we'll take this bag and the water but that's it!" Zipping to the laundry, he grabbed the jug and returned. Before she could come up with something else they had to take, he pushed open the screen door with his foot "Let's go; I called mom 10 minutes ago and told her we'd be by to pick her up soon."

"She only lives next door, so we will be there soon" Lois replied drolly but nevertheless scooted out the door asking "Where's Attila?"

"Sulking in his play centre out back" Clark answered amused "With all the activity going on this morning, he knew we were going somewhere and jumped into the truck determined not to be left behind, so is pissed at me for hauling him out."

"Aww, the poor thing…." Her mouth turned down "I did explain to him why he couldn't come, but I can't blame him for not wanting to miss out. Hopefully he won't give us the cold shoulder when we get home later but just in case, I'll try to think of something special to make it up to him." Stopping beside the truck, she tugged open the beach wrap she was wearing and after tossing it on the front seat, turned in a slow circle "How does my new bathing suit look? Can you tell I'm pregnant?"

"Uh…" Wondering if he should answer truthfully, he bobbed his head hesitantly "Well yes, but that's because you're pretty much blooming right now."

"I thought being a one piece swim dress would sort of disguise it a little" She told him anxiously "Does it look ok?"

"It looks pretty babe but nothing will disguise your bump" He told her gently.

"Well I don't mind, as long that as you really truly think I look alright."

His lips curved appreciatively "I really truly think, that you look better far better than just alright."

Hearing the truth in his voice, she pressed a kiss to his cheek and slipped her wrap back on "Ok, so let's go."

Ushering her into the truck, Clark drove them to the farm next door and silently groaned before climbing out to help his mom when she began hauling out one bag, then another and another full of stuff that she also thought they couldn't do without.

oOo

_Three hours later_

Looking at the dozens upon dozens of families that had converged on the new park situated beside Crater Lake, Mayor Thomas Moore smiled in contentment at seeing such a turnout. Friends, families and neighbours had all amassed to enjoy the day, each other's company, the beautifully inviting lake and the spanking new kid-friendly park his Council had built.

Some were introducing their children to the delights of swimming for the first time, while others were having the time of their lives diving of the platform and splashing about, while still others were floating on rafts or gliding around in canoes.

Groups of teenagers had banded together, scores of children were dashing about on the parks playground equipment, and clutches of people who'd merged together to mix and mingle with their chosen companions, were scattered everywhere he looked.

The arranged activities had gone off without a hitch but had taken a breather to give anyone who wished to join in, the chance to eat lunch without feeling the need to rush and miss out when they resumed later. Not that many were taking the break to sit and relax. Frisbee's were flying around, an impromptu game of touch football had just finished and the volleyball game had moved from the grass into the water.

The cacophony from so large a gathering was a loud, but pleasant sound to his ear.

"Dear, everyone is having a lovely time. Now why don't you take off your Mayor's hat and come sit down with our friends for a little while."

Turning at the sound of wife's voice, he gave her hand a pat and after sweeping another look over the assembled crowd, nodded in acquiescence "I saw the kids run of with their friends earlier, are they going to join us for lunch?"

"Hang out with the oldies; you must be joshing" Betsy Moore laughed softly "They've already raided the coolers, so we probably won't see them again until they want some money to buy junk food for dinner." Slipping her arm through his, she led him towards the patch of area on the edge of the park their party had claimed as their own, while passing on the compliments she'd overheard from more than one person on the success of the day so far.

Standing on the other side of the grassy field after having finished a rousing game of touch football, in which their families had shrieked themselves hoarse cheering them on, a group of men enjoyed an ice cold beer while entertaining themselves with a recounting of their victory upon the field a short time ago. Smiling at the comment from Dean about their cheering squad, Clark ruminated out loud "You know, I was starting to think it was my imagination that everywhere I turned lately there was a pregnant belly coming towards me but after today, I'm not so sure." Gesturing to where the ladies were sitting comfortably in the shade chatting up a storm less than twelve feet away, his brow rose meaningfully.

Turning as one, the men saw the women were surrounded by children and their lips curved at the sight. Two babies under 6 months were lying in their prams cooing to themselves. A group of toddlers, all of whom were under three were playing on the picnic blankets and making enough noise to raise the dead. A boy of 4 was sucking down his fizzy drink while playing with his GI Joe, while a boy of 7 was kicking a ball with his friends only a few steps away. Among all this mayhem sat Lois, who was presently sporting a very impressive baby bump, Ginny who was fast catching up and Kate who looked ready to deliver at any moment.

Eyes twinkling, Grahame looked at the men and began in a voice of one who knows "Speaking as a medical professional…."

"You're a vet" Dean reminded him rudely.

Unperturbed, he continued without pause "Right, which means that I understand animal behaviour better than anyone and in my learned opinion, the reason we've all been so fruitful the last few years can be for one of two reasons; it's either been a very hot summer or a really cold winter, take your pick."

Bursting out laughing, the men smirked proudly and lifted their drinks in a toast.

"Do any of you remember the days when just the thought of a wife and kids would make you break out in a rash?" Tim mused aloud.

The men nodded.

"Do any of you remember the days when a woman just had to say the word commitment, and you'd break land speed records to get away?" Evan Parks smiled lopsided.

The men bobbed their heads once more.

"What the hell happened to us?" Neil scratched his head perplexed.

"Take another look over there and you'll know" Grahame thumbed towards the women.

Turning to look at their wives once again, the men nodded a third time.

"Playing the field lost its flavour" Clark summed up neatly.

"I never thought it would for me" Mark drawled amused "I liked my freedom and had no intention of giving it up."

"And after pretty much screwing you way through high school and college, you never thought you would; right little brother?" Trevor asked directly.

"Right" He admitted with a flashing smile "Of course I didn't know then that Tim marrying Lucy was going to be my downfall."

Seeing the mock glare, Tim rocked on his heels innocently "Don't blame me; Clark, Dean and Neil were also in the wedding party and they didn't get all tangled up with their partners."

"Yeah" The three stated emphatically then smirked when Mark flicked his eyes at them in disdain.

"That's because no bridesmaid would have them" He sneered in return but at their mocking grins, grumbled "Oh come one, everyone knows the groomsman is supposed to flirt with the bridesmaids, it's practically a requirement." At the ripple of laughter, his shoulders moved uneasily "Ok, so I should have known that I was in trouble when I kept on seeing her afterwards but I didn't figure out that I was in knee deep until it was too late and I did try to cool things down but it backfired on me."

"How?" Evan asked amused.

"The usual way" He answered cagily.

"He thought someone else was interested in her, so stormed in to tell them hands off, right buddy?" Clark slapped Mark on the back, recalling his friends rage about it at the time.

Seeing the empathetic smiles from others who'd also been at the mercy of their emotions when love knocked them on their ass, he bobbed his head in confirmation "Yeah, I could feel the noose start to tighten so before Tina could start making noises about us being exclusive, I tried to break free by dating someone else." He paused to glug down a mouthful of beer and his eyes narrowed into slits "But when I saw her having the time of her life with my good buddy Dean on what was obviously a date of her own, I saw red."

"Dog in the manger" Dean scoffed tauntingly.

"That's what she accused me off after I dumped my date and stormed around to her place, demanding an explanation on what she was doing with you." Mark's lips twitched "The only thing Tina deigned to do was slam the door in my face." The men hooted in laughter, and giving a self-deprecating smile, he continued frankly "Yeah she was pretty pissed, so getting on her good side again took quite a bit of coaxing on my part, but the whole thing made me realise that putting my head in a noose wasn't so bad, as long as she was the one holding the rope."

"It's just as well that it was all resolved so quickly, because your name was mud in our house for well over a week" Alan said quietly "I was almost afraid of talking to you in case Anne accused me of consorting with the enemy and since she's the one I sleep with, she's the one I wanted to keep sweet."

"I was in the same boat with Kate, who's been close friends with the two of them since the year dot" Grahame added feelingly.

Having been through similar experiences with the women in their lives, the men winced in sympathy.

"Well I messed up and that's a fact but it was actually the best thing that could have happened or I might not have realised what an ass I'd been, until Tina was walking down the aisle to marry some clown who didn't deserve her" Mark paused to take a breath before declaring brashly "Not that it would have stopped me from raising hell you understand, but I don't think my mother in law would have forgiven me for ruining the big day."

"It's the best thing that could have happened" Dean remarked to no one in particular "If I remember aright, the next day you turned up at my place demanding to know if I dared to lay a finger on Tina the night before."

"No, no; he turned up with Tim, Neil and me ostensibly to help with the harvesting but no sooner climbed out of his truck then he sucker punched you right in the mouth, before drilling you for information about every second of your date and then threatened to rip your lips off if you'd dared to kiss her at the end of the night" Clark cackled, which set the other two men off as they recalled the rare day's entertainment they'd received at the Marshall farm that day.

"I apologised" Mark grinned unrepentantly.

"Some apology" Dean grunted unimpressed "You said it served me right, and let it be a lesson to me not to date another man's woman in future."

"Not that you learnt, since you tried sleazing onto Lois by taking her out for coffee" Clark put in blandly.

"It was only coffee, so how much sleazing could I do?" Before anyone could answer that, he asked reasonably "Besides, how was I supposed to know she was out of bounds, when the two of you were keeping your relationship under wraps?" Not giving him a chance to reply, Dean next turned his attention on Mark "And as for _**you**_, I only took Tina out to cheer her up because she'd heard through the grapevine about your date and was upset."

Clark and Mark looked at each other shame faced and cleared their throats noisily.

Raising his eyes to the heavens, Dean remarked solemnly "Thank you for sending me Carol; it's because of her that my friends no longer kick my worthless hide for no reason."

"If Lois hadn't come back to Smallville, you wouldn't have met Carol" Clark smirked and slapped his friend on the back.

"True, so maybe it's just as well that I went out with Lois, since it got you thinking" He smirked in return.

"I'd already told her that we were exclusive" Clark corrected grimly "It was seeing her on a date with Neil and then finding out she'd had a coffee date with you, that made me insist we come out in the open."

"Really, well gee maybe my memory's faulty but I could have sworn when questioned about your dinner date with Lois, you passed it off as nothing more than playing catch up with an old friend, at the behest of your mother" Neil remarked far too innocently.

"_**His mother!**_" Evan repeated in disbelief.

Turning to take a good long look at Lois, the men began to howl with laughter.

Waiting until they calmed down, Clark insisted weakly "That's all it was at the time." Seeing the scepticism on the faces surrounding him, he gave it up "Fine, if you must know the truth, after our date Lois made it clear that she wanted to keep our relationship strictly no strings and it flicked me on the raw, so I was trying to save face but…." Pausing at the knowing smiles, he pushed on doggedly "…**BUT**, that was still before I knew she was a serious threat to my bachelorhood."

"So when did you know that she was?"

"When I decided that I wasn't going to let her leave Smallville after her holiday was over" He answered in reply to Tim's question.

"That'd do it alright" Trevor smiled crookedly "The few times I thought of getting married again, it was with the idea of doing it just for the companionship. I couldn't imagine loving anyone but Robin but didn't like being single and found casual sex unsatisfying, so figured companionship would have to do and then Ginny came along." He shook his head astounded "That woman is half my size but she frightened me to death."

"You certainly looked frightened when she made a dead set at you at all the festivities leading up to Mark and Tina's wedding" Tim snickered while those who'd been witness to the spectacle, cleared their throats noisily but their lips twitched.

"I was" He stated absolutely "Yet when she asked if I intended to come back to Smallville for Christmas, I couldn't think of a reason to say no."

"And then you took her back with you to Iowa when you left in the New Year" Grahame grinned at his old school pal.

"Yeah but if there's one thing losing Robin had taught me, it was not to waste time because you never know what's going to happen from one day to the next" He said simply "I'd thought about Ginny a lot in the month before I came back for Christmas and realised that what frightened me, was my feelings for her. I hadn't expected to fall in love again but I had. So why wait and for what? I'd already wasted a month and wasn't about to waste anymore."

Glad to see his big brother so happy again, Mark slapped him on the back. "Well you certainly didn't wait any time starting a family."

"Now _**that**_ was a happy accident" He retorted chuckling.

Turning to the quiet one in the group, Clark asked curiously "What about you Alan?"

"Well I was never interested in playing the field, which is fortunate since I don't have the aptitude for it…" He smiled placidly at their quick grins "But neither did I want to rush in and make a mistake. So it wasn't the idea of settling down that I found scary, it was the possibility that I'd marry the wrong woman and live to regret it that was."

"In that case we were both lucky that you were still single when you moved to Smallville, or I'd be in prison right now for murder and you'd be dead" Anne announced unceremoniously to her husband's back, and smiled hugely when he swung around surprised to find her there.

"Can you take Jennifer honey? She's been fed so you'd better take this cloth just in case" Handing over their baby girl to her husband, she patted his arm in thanks "We're about to feed the children and then we'll be having lunch, so don't you lot start playing another game."

Smiling down at the sweet little bundle in his arms, Alan rocked her gently "Do you need our help?"

"No we're fine; but I'd better get back over there before we have a riot on our hands."

"Are the natives getting restless Anne?" Tim asked curiously.

"Yep but the kids aren't the only ones starting to get fractious; Lois, Ginny and Kate are too and having been in their shoes only a little while ago, I know all about hunger pangs in the second trimester." Leaving them with a smile, she made tracks back to where the women were stationed.

"Second trimester, hah! What a joke!" Clark scoffed loudly the second she was gone and it was safe to comment. Snorting, he carried on tactlessly "Lois began scarfing down everything in sight before she hit that milestone. I swear pregnancy has turned that woman's somewhat healthy appetite, into that of an anaconda's."

"Tell me about it" Mark swiftly agreed "Tina began eating us out of house and home the minute her morning sickness stopped. I was relieved when she slowed down before the twins were born, or I would have needed to take out a second mortgage on the farm just to pay the supermarket bills."

Not finished complaining, Clark jumped back in "And what the hell is up with those cravings? First Lois wanted ice-cream, so I made sure to always keep plenty in the freezer. Then she switched to watermelon and for the last two months she's been eating that morning, noon and night but now it seems they're out and sardines are in." Not giving anyone a chance to speak, he informed the men militantly "I've got a crate of watermelons in the truck and all of you are taking one home today. I stocked up on the damn things but since Lois doesn't want them anymore, you're all getting one."

"Oh god the cravings…" Dean bemoaned feelingly "Carol almost gave me a heart attack one day when she was expecting Noah. I left her taking a nap and came back from the feed store an hour later to find her up on a ladder, trying to get at the apples on one of the trees."

The men looked at him appalled.

"What'd you do?" Neil asked horrified.

"I stayed calm long enough to get her down, by promising to get them for her but the second she was on the ground, I yelled…" Sucking in a breath of aggravation he tacked on "Not that it did me much good. All I succeeded in doing was giving myself a sore throat. As far as Carol was concerned, climbing up a ladder to get at the apples made sense, since there were plenty in the orchard but none in the house and she wanted them."

"I would have been glad if Lucy craved anything in the first few months when she was pregnant with Mathew but as it was, she didn't want to eat at all which worried the hell out of me" Tim added candidly "Just the smell of food made her sick, and the little she managed to get down was rapidly brought back up again. I was pretty damn scared when she started losing weight instead of gaining, until her doctor assured me her appetite would return. When she followed pattern while pregnant with Sarah, I knew what to expect so wasn't as anxious but believe me; if your wife doesn't or can't eat, it's just as stressful as when she does stupid stuff just to satisfy a craving."

Nodding in sympathy while wondering which was worse, the men stared at each other helplessly.

"You were lucky that yours were born close together Tim, I had to take a crash course on being an expectant father again when Anne was expecting Jennifer, since it was 7 years since she'd had Peter" Alan put in musingly. "I'd forgotten all about cravings and mood swings, the insatiable appetite and everything else that goes hand in hand when your wife's expecting a baby." Looking down at his little girl, he stroked her check gently "But I'd happily take another round of all that, before going through the horror of labour again."

"I haven't been through that horror yet, so no bullshit now; how bad is it really?" Clark asked seriously.

"I want to know as well since this is mine and Kate's first baby too; so give it to us straight" Grahame piped up nervously.

"We can tell you how it is, but nothing we say will make it easier on you" Tim said soberly "Right now it'll just sound like we're trying to scare you, until you get into the delivery room and then you'll think we downplayed it."

The two men visibly gulped and shared eye contact then fixed their eyes back on their friends, as Dean added sincerely "You feel helpless and scared. Awed at what a hero your wife is and a whole lot of other things that you won't truly understand, until you experience it yourself."

As the men bobbed their heads in accord, Evan shuddered noticeably "Being a cop, I've been trained to deal with most anything, including how to deliver a baby. However, not only was that years ago in a training simulation, it wasn't wife screaming in pain. Nothing could have prepared me for the real thing."

Seeing faces contorting in empathy, Clark sent up a little prayer that for once in her life; Lois would have pity and take it easy on him but didn't feel very hopeful given the woman in question, and the eventful pregnancy she'd had to date.

Rocking lightly on his heels, Neil cleared his throat noisily "How much will all of you hate me when I say that Chloe didn't get morning sickness, didn't get cravings, didn't get mood swings, didn't make me want to pull my hair out by the roots by doing something crazy and had a pretty easy delivery with Lucas."

As one, the men turned on him and snarled.

Laughing, he stepped back with his hands held up for peace as they advanced on him but at the call of daddy, every head swung round to discover just which daddy was being summoned.

Seeing Mathew followed by Lucas, Noah, Laura, Aaron, Emily and Hannah all tottering toward them with hands outstretched in expectation, the men stepped forward to scoop up their little ones, making them gurgle and squeal in excitement with silly antics.

Watching them enviously, Clark pondered the idea of picking Lois up and tossing her into the air as his friends were doing to their offspring, or maybe taking a leaf out of Mark's book who having two kiddies in his arms, had settled for doing raspberries against their tummy's, making the twins laugh and clutch at his hair. He could do raspberries against Lois' tummy. She liked it when he did silly things but she might not appreciate him doing it in public. Come to think of it, their baby was likely feeling quite warm and comfy right now and might not really enjoy being tossed around either.

Sighing hugely, he pouched out his bottom lip in disappointment then laughed when Mathew saw him and imitated his look. Sending the tyke a wink, Clark turned his attention on Alan's boy Peter when he came to a stop beside his father and bestowed a shy smile in his direction before telling his dad importantly "Mom said to tell the men it's time for lunch."

"Thanks buddy; you want a ride on my back?"

"She said that I can go play with my friends because I've already eaten" Pointing to where a few boys were horsing around within sight of their party, he smiled persuasively "But you could give me a ride back to where mom is first, and then I can go play."

Giving his little negotiators hair a ruffle, Alan turned at Clark's chuckle "Since you need the practice and all, would you mind taking Jennifer?"

Transferring his daughter to his friends eager arms, Alan grabbed hold when Peter climbed up his back like a monkey and with the other men, headed to where the ladies, the babies and the food was waiting.

oOo

Wiggling to try and make herself more comfortable, Lois sighed and gave it up as a lost cause. Comfort was a commodity that was in short supply these days; her back hurt, her legs hurt, her ribs hurt, her boobs hurt and the list just went on and on. Little things that she'd been able to do only a week ago, were now a chore. Where once upon a time she could simply bend over to pick something up, she now had to _**think**_ about how to accomplish such a herculean task. The only good thing she could say about it being summer was that she didn't have to bend over to pull on socks, but the heat was starting to get to her and the shortness of breath was getting on her wick.

She was 6 months gone and that was a bloody long time for anything to be cooking.

She was ready for this pregnancy to be over; O.V.E.R, **OVER! **

Unfortunately, she'd gotten into the bad habit of flipping ahead through her diary to count the days and when she added up how long she still had to go, she felt like yelling WHAAAAAAAAT!

It was all messing with her head. She could barely remember the last time she thought of something that wasn't baby related, and when people said the time was passing oh so fast, she had to restrain herself from going for their throat.

At least she had her hubby to gripe to, that was a bonus.

He was also sweet enough to sleep sitting up when she couldn't sleep supine, and had made it a daily ritual to massage all her aches and pains away.

Plus she had her friends.

Listening to their chatter, the giggles from the children playing a few feet away, the babble from the babies and the voices of the townsfolk, some of whom she knew and others that she didn't, she felt surrounded and had to admit that she loved every minute of it. She'd gotten into the habit of storing away little pockets of memories to look back on after leaving the cabin all those years ago; and this day would be one that she'd remember fondly.

Of course, she'd remember it a lot more fondly on a full stomach, should anyone care to ask. Not that they were. How many hints was she supposed to give that she was feeling a tad peckish for goodness sake?

Seriously; HOW MANY!

Yelling one's husband onto victory while he played football was a hungry business. Come to think of it; being pregnant was a hungry business.

In the past five days her appetite had increased a hundred fold. Just last week she was eating small portions because it didn't feel like she had a whole lot of room in her stomach, this week she was eating man sized portions for lunch and dinner then going back for seconds, but still couldn't fill the hole in her tummy for long. She'd been pigging out on everything in sight. Come to think of it, right now she could probably eat a whole pig, and still have room to fit a cow in there for desert.

She needed food!

Sneaking a look around and noticing that everyone was too busy gabbing away to pay her any mind, Lois sneakily looked into a few coolers to see what goodies everyone had brought to share and felt her mouth water upon spying a plate of fried chicken. Reaching in for a leg, she slammed the lid down guiltily at the nosy question from Mathew Arnold what she was doing.

Sending the little one an innocent smile, she lied glibly "nothing cutie, I'm just looking", then turned relieved at touch of Martha's hand on her arm. Smiling in thanks at the plastic cup being held out, Lois sipped the orange juice while looking at her mother in laws glass of wine spritzer with envy then began to nod madly in accord when first one child then another and another began to grizzle impatiently for their lunch.

"I think we'd better get cracking and feed them, before the ruckus gets worse" Tina advised rapidly, and with Lucy's help, began to set up the folding tables for the children to sit at, while the others ladies began taking out the food.

Pushing to her feet to assist, Lois dug into one of the coolers and after sneaking out a petite sandwich which was shoved into her pocket, passed the container to Carol. Retrieving a plate of mini-pizzas from another cooler, she passed that onto Martha but not before palming one for herself. The container of pigs in a blanket suffered the same fate before being handed to Chloe, as did the hard boiled eggs she gave to Ginny. However, the bowl of cherry tomatoes was given to Anne Beard unmolested and the potato chips managed to make it to the table intact but the blueberry mini-muffins weren't so lucky.

Wandering off with the excuse of using the facilities to give herself time to eat the evidence that was burning a hole in the pocket of her beach wrap, she exhaled in disappointment when the tidbits she'd purloined, only made her more hungry and returned to enquire when the adults were going to eat.

"As soon as the kids have finished Lo, then we can have ours in peace" Carol looked up from feeding Noah to answer.

Looking at the children who were blissfully unaware of what she'd done, Lois felt absolutely wretched. Not only because she'd swiped some of their food but because she wanted to do it again. She wanted to snatch up the mini-pizza that was just sitting there on a plate, untouched and forgotten.

"Alright kids, since you're now playing with your food instead of eating it, have you had enough?" Lucy asked one and all 10 minutes later.

At the bobbing heads and replies of "uh huh and yes", mouths, faces and hands were cleaned before Anne Parks asked brightly "Why don't you go and get your daddies for us; they're right there, see?"

Faces lit up at seeing their fathers close by and as one, the nippers all tottered of in that direction except for Peter, who being a few years older asked hopefully "Can I go play with Connor and Adam mom?"

"Alright honey but…."

"I know, stay in sight of you or dad at all times" He finished for her, repeating the often worn expression.

"Right, also you're not to go swimming unless one of us is with you" Anne added firmly and at his nod, asked "Would you do me a favour and tell your dad it's time for the men to come have lunch. They might think the children want to play but us ladies want to eat."

"Uh huh" Zooming off, Peter made a beeline for this dad and felt a proud glow inside that his mom treated him like a big boy and not a little baby. She not only let him go off to play with his friends, she also trusted him with important messages.

Hearing the cackle and shrieks of the children when their fathers scooped them up and certain they were one's of condemnation against her, Lois squirmed in shame and unable to ignore the guilt beating at her conscience any longer, wailed piteously "I'm evil; I ate their food, I'll probably start kicking old people's canes away next."

Pausing from setting out the food for the adults, the women looked at each other baffled, before looking at her confused "What?"

"When I was taking out the food from the coolers for the kids, I snuck some out for myself. I didn't mean to do it but I was just so hungry." Unable to look anyone in the eye, she kept hers lowered and noticing some leftover crumbs in the top of her terry wrap, brushed them away while confessing "I hid the food that I stole in my pocket, and then left with excuse of using the ladies but I didn't. I snuck around behind the facilities and ate everything that I swiped."

Dead silence followed her admission for a good 5 seconds then a snort, some giggles and a few hands were slapped over mouths, before all broke down into gales of laughter.

Feeling her face turn beet red from both guilt and mortification, she asked in a small voice "Please don't tell anyone. If Clark finds out he'll either be embarrassed by me or tease me unmercifully."

Rushing over to comfort, Martha gave her daughter in law a big hug "No one's going to find out except for us."

Feeling awful just the same, she nodded minutely in response "Thank you."

Seeing the downhearted look on her face, Carol bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the laughter that wanted to continue pouring out and added truthfully "Lo, all of us brought so much food that the children didn't even eat half of it. They didn't each finish what was put on their plates; so don't worry about it alright."

"I was tempted myself Lois" Kate cheered comfortingly.

"So was I" Ginny added fast on her heels.

"No you weren't, but thank you for trying to make me feel better" She countered softly before sweeping her eyes over the group "I'm sorry."

Silently thanking god that she'd waited to open up after the children were gone, since they hadn't yet learned the art of discretion, Tina advised frankly "Hey, if there's anyone who understands how bad hunger-pangs can strike when you're pregnant, it's us."

Murmuring reassurances while valiantly choking back a further attack of the giggles at her confession, the women ruthlessly cleared their throats to effectively close ranks at the arrival of the men and suddenly became busy setting out the food for the adults.

oOo

_Later that night – approx 11pm_

Turning her face into her husband's neck, Lois exhaled in disappointment as the sleep she'd been craving earlier continued to elude her. Clark's breath ruffling her hair, the warmth of his skin against hers and the solid support of his chest at her back was absolute heaven. Yet her brain wouldn't shut up and simply let her enjoy being held by a big strong man as other, more pressing matters continued to brew and stew incessantly keeping her awake.

Pulled out of sleep by the vigorous kicking under his hand minutes later, Clark rubbed her tummy gently and tried soothe the baby down by whispering that its mommy need to rest but hearing her soft titter, asked discomfited "How long have you been awake?"

"Not long but I enjoyed listening to trying to shush the baby down so she wouldn't wake me up, it was very sweet" Lois told him amused.

"I do it a lot of nights" He murmured against her ear.

"Really?"

"Uh huh; you normally sleep through it though." Knowing she'd been fighting to keep her eyes open earlier, he asked concerned "Something on your mind?"

"Humm."

At the nothing response, he gave her arm a jiggle "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just thinking."

"About what?"

At his second nudge, she turned her head to look in his face but was only able to see the glitter of his eyes in the darkness "About how well my friends handled their children at the picnic today. They were chatting away while dealing with bursts of tempers and sullen pouts for attention. They diffused temper tantrums, dispensed hugs and answered demands for cosseting or sustenance from the babies and toddlers; all without losing the thread of their conversations. They made it look so effortless." Taking a deep breath, she said enviously "I want to be like that. I want to come through shining brightly but what I know about children could fit on the head of a pin with room to spare. What if I muck it up?"

"I know about as much as you do, and I don't think either of us are going to muck up" He replied confidently "We're bound to make mistakes because our baby is not going to come with a handbook but for the most part, we'll just trust our good sense and our instincts and ask for help when we need it."

"But neither of us have had kids before, so our instincts haven't got anything to draw on" She said worriedly.

"Baby when it comes to children, everyone starts from a place of ignorance at some point. Out of all our friends, we're the last to be starting a family but don't forget that only a few years ago, Alan and Anne were the only ones who had children and since Peter was their first, they had to learn just as we will. Now I don't know about your friends but mine have shared the good, the bad and the mortifying of when they first became fathers." Stopping to take a breath, he resumed with a note of laughter in his voice "For instance, there's the time when Mathew was only about 4 days old and Tim was babysitting him while Lucy was taking a nap. Anyhow his parents dropped round for a visit and when his mom got a load of her new grandson sucking on a nasal bulb syringe…" Breaking down when Lois cracked up laughing, he confessed sheepishly when able to talk again "My friends embarrass me sometimes. Tim the idiot mistook it for a pacifier and gave it to Mathew and when his mom explained what it was, all he could think of to say was that it was lucky he'd rinsed it first."

Between giggles, Lois pleaded for another.

"Alrighty, well let's move onto Neil who panicked the day Lucas projectile vomited and it hit the wall four feet away." At the loud 'ewww' from his wife, Clark nodded agreeably "Yep, but when it's a newborn doing it, it's more scary than revolting apparently. So anyway, Chloe was in Metropolis that day and Neil, who unfortunately remembered reading all the meteor freak stories his wife wrote for the Torch while at school, did call the doctor but not before calling a priest." Hearing her muffled wheeze, he commented chattily "I'd swear that noise you just made, is exactly the imitation Neil did of the priest while telling us this story."

"Why a priest?"

"Well only a select few know the truth about people affected by the meteors, everyone else came up with their own theories. Neil, like many others figured they must have been possessed and made a dick of himself by calling the church to ask for help that day" Clark explained dryly and felt her body shake silently with laughter "So anyway after being reassured that Lucas wasn't going to grow up to be Damien Omen, Neil called the doctor and simply learnt not to let his son eat too fast or too much."

"Next" She asked eagerly.

"Next is Mark, who needed a couple of stiff drinks after changing the twin's diapers the day after they came home from the hospital" Clark informed her in a voice that shook "Determined that he was going to be a hands on dad from the start, he insisted that Tina take it easy while he looked after them all by himself and taking him at his word, she decided to do a little grocery shopping. So cutting a long story short, when Emily needed a diaper change, Mark had to take care of it. Unfortunately, he soon found out that Emily wasn't quite finished pooping, because she did it a second time while he was cleaning her up and if that wasn't bad enough, by the time he'd finished with her, Aaron needed changing too. So Mark took off his sons diaper and not moving out of the way fast enough, copped an eye full of pee." Enjoying her gurgle of laughter, he grinned widely "He's since learnt to expect the unexpected when it comes to his little darlings, but that day was fairly horrifying to him as a new father."

"I'll bet" She murmured sympathetically "Dean has to be next."

"Oh yes indeed and that's because I was saving the best for last" He informed her with mock gravity "My good buddy Dean discovered very quickly, that strapping his son into his car seat is all very well, but if he doesn't secure the baby capsule into the car itself, Noah will fall out."

Her mouth fell open "You're kidding!"

"I kid you not" He swore faithfully "The stupid ass was wondering why Noah, who normally loved riding in the car was being so fretful, only to feel aghast at finding his son lying sideways in the back seat when he stopped for gas. Noah was fine, Dean was not but he did learn never to make that mistake again. Now do you see what I mean about everyone learning as they go and kids not coming with a handbook?"

"Yeah" She smiled crookedly "The thing is that my friends have all told me funny, silly or scary stories of when they were new moms, but I forgot about those after seeing them today."

"Hopefully we'll learn from our friend's misadventures but it's a sad fact of life that since we're not perfect, we're bound to mistakes. However, with a bit of practice, we'll do just fine" He replied logically.

"True" Tilting her face up, she told him happily "Ok, I'm ready to go to sleep again."

"Good."

"Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight."

"I kissed you goodnight earlier."

"I want another one now?"

"Greedy woman" He complained and bent down to press his lips to hers, then chuckled when unable to find her mouth in the darkness, his lips landed on the side of her nose "How's that?"

"Good enough" Yawing, she sighed in pleasure when his arms wrapped comfortingly around her, and snuggling in, was out like a light.

Closing his eyes, Clark chuckled silently as other tales his friends had shared about their blunders at being a new dad floated through his head, and crossed his fingers hopefully as he too drifted off.

oOo

_3 months later – (Third Trimester: week 40) - approx 11pm_

Busily searching the web while industriously taking notes, Lois paused now and again to rub the small of her back before continuing to tap away on the computer for any and all information that she considered important.

Sitting back 20 minutes later, she read over the wealth of information that she'd managed to accumulate, before looking down to address the dog who was sitting beside her chair "Well boy; I'm definitely in labour but the good news is that it's not time for me to go to the hospital, which is just as well since Clark's not here."

Attila woofed at her voice and rising up on his hind legs, set his front paws on the chair seat.

Giving him a pat, she took a sip of water before picking up her notepad and showing it to the beast "Don't worry though, I've jotted down all sorts of stuff to do to pass the time and they're all from reliable sources, so I'm going to do it." Pausing for a beat, she tilted her head thoughtfully "I'm actually lucky Clark's not here, because he'd just get underfoot and not let me do anything, but I need to do stuff to take my mind of the back pain, the cramps and the contractions I'm getting; which by the way is all perfectly normal in early labour." At the dog's ruff, she held out one hand in appeal "C'mon boy you've seen him. In the last two weeks Clark's turned into a Nazi who bosses me around; me! But I've been patient and bitten my tongue instead of telling him to go jump in the lake because I know he's only concerned about me and our baby, which isn't altogether his fault since I've already had one false alarm but if he was here right now, you know very well he'd order me not to do anything more strenuous than breathe, and I'm sure he'd try and take on that chore for me if he could."

The dog barked again and sure she'd heard a tone of understanding in his ruff, she gave him a pat "I know he wouldn't have gone anywhere if he'd known that I was in labour, but he can't blame me because I didn't know that I was either." She rolled her eyes and asked patiently "Of course I know that's not going to stop him from giving me what for but really; how was I supposed to know the back and rib pain that's been bugging me for the past two days was a sign of labour, when I've been putting up with all of that and more over the last few months?"

Deliberating for a minute, she chewed her fingernail before confessing guiltily "Admittedly it did feel different to the usual kind of pain and yes ok, maybe I should have told Clark when he woke me up before taking off to help the JLA, but I truly didn't think it was worth mentioning because I didn't even know that I was in labour all this time. I thought labour was when I'd be screaming my lungs out for drugs, not just feeling progressively uncomfortable with the body aches from hell and anyway if I had told him, he wouldn't have gone even though he was needed but I have no doubt, none of that is going to cut any ice with him when he finds out." Running out of words, she made a face and added gloomily "I have a feeling I'm going to be in big trouble when he gets home, unless of course he doesn't get home until the baby is actually coming out of me, in which case he'll hold off yelling until she's here and then he'll let me have it, you just watch."

Stopping to ride out a contraction, Lois waited until it was over then looked at the clock "That one wasn't so bad and since the last one was about 10 minutes ago, I've still got ages which is good." At the dog's whine, she twirled her hair around one finger and said defensively "Well it is good since I don't know exactly where Clark is right now, but I do know he's out there saving lives and not just carousing. I just wish he was on the news, so I'd know what was going on. Before he left, he just said he was needed at the watchtower but I doubt if he's still there and even if he was, it's not like there's a phone line between earth and wherever the hell in space it is…." She hesitated for a moment before shrugging bad tempered "Ok, ok, I know that if I yell loudly enough he'll hear me, so I don't have the excuse of him not being contactable but still…."

Suspending her discourse to hold out her arms invitingly when the dog jumped and jumped determined to get in her lap, she managed to catch him on his fourth leap and pressed a kiss to his nose at his grateful little woof. Sitting him on her tummy she looked into his cute little face and continued dolefully "I'm in a bit of pickle sweetie; if I don't call, Clark's going to yell and if I do call, I could be dragging him away from something really important and people could die and for what? So he can race home to hold my hand, even though it's not time for me to go to the hospital?" Smoothing one hand over the dog's head, she thought about the situation from all angles before announcing "Ok, this is what I'm going to do; I'm going to keep myself occupied until Clark gets home but I will call him if he's not back by the time I have to leave for the hospital."

Having felt she'd justified everything, Lois grabbed her cell-phone which was sitting beside the computer "But first; I'm going to call the doctor and see what he has to say."

Hanging up several minutes later, she boasted conceitedly "Well what'd you know; it seems that I was right. It could be a while yet, and since I have no intention of going to the Medical Centre without Clark, that suits me just fine. Hopefully he'll be back before things start to get hairy but if not…." Stopping to ride out the next contraction, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing until it was over, then took up the conversation once again as if without pause "….if not, then I'll scream to high heaven but for now it's just you and me."

Picking up the beast from her lap, she bent down as far as she comfortably could and after dropping him on the floor, pressed one hand to the small of her back and got to her feet "C'mon sweetie, I need to start distracting myself but first, I just want to grab the stopwatch and then check that I have everything packed in my bag for the hospital."

Keeping herself occupied for the next three hours became steadily more difficult as the contractions increased in length and intensity. Finishing up her third game of patience and feeling that hers was just about gone, Lois sighed and addressed the dog who was sitting faithfully at her feet "Do you know boy, it's such a comfort having you with me." Barking at her voice, Attila placed his paw on her ankle and got to his feet when she did "I'm just going to have a bit of a lie down sweetie, I'm finding it hard to concentrate on anything but my assorted aches at the moment."

Hoping to sleep for a little while, she curled up under the covers but gave the effort up as useless. Lying down was comfortable and no matter what position she tried, the contractions weren't going to ease or go away. Opening her eyes to find Attila devotedly staring at her, she smiled wearily. She was aware the animal had spent the last 30 minutes jumping all over the bed so he was always curled up right beside her face every time she turned over and gave him a pat in thanks "I have a feeling Clark would approve of you watching me like a hawk."

Licking her cheek, the beast nuzzled against her and let out a soft croon of delight when she gave his tummy a little rub. Taking a look at the clock, she saw it was 3.07am precisely and began to heave herself up, but instead reached for the stop watch as the next contraction began.

Noting down the time on the pad when it was over, she pursed her lips in contemplation and showing it to the dog, chatted conversationally "My timings aren't really accurate since I've sometimes forgotten to stop the clock, but I still think they can give me some idea. Besides, I'm painfully aware the pangs are stronger, longer and the time between each one is closing but according to this last reading, it's still not time for me to leave for the hospital." Heaving herself up to a sitting position, she gave Attila a pat on the head "I'm just going to have a warm shower and hope that Clark gets his ass home soon. Why don't you try and get some sleep cutie. It's been a long night and it's not over yet."

Giving himself a shake, the dog hopped off the bed and followed her to the bathroom. Smiling at the attentive little beast, she stripped and stepped into the shower then began to hum in appreciation and relaxation as the warm water began to beat down on her back, while Attila sat at attention keeping his eyes fixed on her.

20 minutes later, Clark came home to bedlam.

oOo

_Next Night – approx 7pm_

As the muffled sounds of trolleys, footsteps and voices outside her room began to penetrate Lois' consciousness, her lashes fluttered then lifted to reveal eyes heavy with strain as the thoughts of those beyond the door of her room, began to clamour inside her head.

Focusing on the hand linked with hers sitting atop the bedcovers, she forced herself to take one deep breath after another, while concentrating on the exercises she'd learnt long ago on how to obtain order from the chaos hollering in her mind. As the feeling of being smothered began to recede, her eyes lifted from the hand clasping hers, to the man sprawled in the chair beside her bed and her heart melted at seeing him fast asleep, with their baby girl curled up and held protectively against his chest with one strong arm.

They looked so adorable; him so big and her so tiny. It was without doubt the cutest 'awww' moment of her life.

Wanting to capture it, she stealthily picked up his cell-phone from the bedside table and after snapping a couple of shots, gave the hand holding hers a tiny shake, smiling tiredly when his eyes creaked open "Hi."

"Hi" Bringing their joint hands to his mouth, he pressed a kiss atop her knuckles before letting go to carefully shift their daughter to his other arm, while holding his breath hoping the movement wouldn't wake her up.

Grace Lily Kent was only 7 hours old but she'd already had her first feed, her first bath, her height and weight measured, her first injection, her first eye drops, a hearing test and her footprint taken, then she'd simply had enough of it all and fallen asleep upon being placed in her daddy's arms.

Looking down at the little bundle grunting softly against his chest, Clark's lips curved in delight "She makes the same noise you do when asleep."

Pretending not to hear, Lois reached out to touch one finger gently to her daughters cheek "She's easily the second prettiest person I've ever seen in my life." Lifting her eyes to her husband's face, she finished sweetly "You're still the first."

Flinty eyes rose to capture hers "If promise to never ever again refer to the cute little noises you make when asleep, do you promise to never ever again say anything about my bloody face."

"But it's just so dishy…" At his snarl, she batted her lashes flirtatiously "I do."

Content with that, he inclined his head in agreement and asked low voiced "How are you feeling?"

"Sore, tired and a little flatter" She patted her deflated tummy "Is my dad and your mom still here?"

"No babe, they left to get some rest after you fell asleep; they'll be back in the morning."

"Why didn't you go home and get a decent sleep too?"

"Because sleeping beside you is one of my favourite things, even if I'm doing it in an uncomfortable hospital chair" Hearing a fuzzy little yawn, he looked down and felt his heart turn to mush "I already love her so much Lo."

"I know" She murmured and held out her arms in expectation when their baby girl began to making fussing noises.

Handing their daughter over, Clark watched silently as Lois pulled aside her gown then chuckled when the baby latched onto and began making greedy little slurping sounds, but this time refrained from making comparisons with his wife, knowing it would only result in her making another smart ass comment about him.

"Grace Lily, you need to slow down" Lois cooed softly and tracing one finger over the tiny hand sitting on her breast, asked the age old question "Who do you think she takes after?"

Pursing his lips in deliberation, he tilted his head this way and that as his eyes catalogued every centimetre of the newest addition to their family, before announcing in a tone of finality "Me!"

Piqued, she asked disgruntled "Oh yes and how do you figure that, pray tell."

"It's obvious…." He retorted smugly "According to everything I've read about newborns, Gracie's appearance will definitely change within the next few days or weeks, so she might take after you someday but for now…." Sweeping one finger gently over his daughters head, he attested blandly "From the top of her large pointy cone shaped head, to the tips of her bluish hands and feet, she looks like a tiny little alien, so she clearly takes after me."

Chortling, Lois wiggled one finger and when he came closer, pressed a kiss to his forehead "You win; except for the ears, she does look a little like Yoda right now."

"Maybe we could take some photos of her holding a lightsaber; that'd be pretty neat" Clark grinned wickedly.

Snorting, she slapped his shoulder "Stop it, our baby girl is beautiful."

"Yes she is" He said sincerely "And don't worry, the doctor has assured me that her head will go back into the normal shape soon, and the bluish tint on her hands and feet will go in a couple of days."

"I know" Gesturing to the curtains that had been pulled closed, she asked "Hon, can you please open the bed curtains, I'm feeling a little stifled."

"Sure…" Doing as asked, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head before retaking his seat "Sorry about that, I just wanted to give us some privacy."

Her eyes swept around the room before coming back to him "This is a one patient room."

When he nodded in acknowledgment but didn't comment, her lips curved "You closed the curtains and deliberately placed your chair between my bed and the door, because you were trying to protect my mind from being blasted by all those in the medical centre when I woke up. You were trying to block out the world for me weren't you?"

His lips twisted "Did it help?"

"No, but I love you for doing it anyway" She told him truthfully.

"Well it's only for a two days and then you'll be at home again" He trailed off with a philosophical shrug.

"Honey, I learnt how to deal with it years ago, which is why I was able to stay in hotel rooms when I travelled" She smiled at the disconcerted look on his face.

"I forgot about that."

"Well it has been a while and these days, it's only your dirty mind that I need to block out first thing" She replied tongue in cheek, then choked back a giggle when he growled low voiced "I've told you before not to let a perfectly good erection go to waste. If I'm sleeping, you just jump on board and have at it."

Looking over when the door swooshed open to admit a nurse almost 40 minutes later, Lois blinked in surprise as the woman appeared as if by magic just as Grace finished feeding.

"I'll take her to the nursery now Mrs Kent. That will give you a chance to have a good night's sleep ok."

Grudgingly handing the baby over, she mumbled thanks while yawning hugely and feeling her eyes grow heavy, scooted down into the bed "Give me a kiss before you go."

Looking at the door regretfully as Grace was whisked away, Clark switched his attention to his wife and claiming one of her hands, interlaced their fingers "I'm not going anywhere."

"You need to rest."

"I can rest right here" He returned stubbornly.

"No you can't" She returned patiently "You're not going to get a decent night's sleep in that chair."

"I'll be fine."

"Clark, you only managed to get a couple of hours sleep last night before getting called away, and you've had very little since coming home to find me in labour early this morning." Seeing his jaw tighten with determination, she said exasperated "You're not indestructible! What if Superman's needed and you end up getting hurt because you're too worn out to concentrate; what then?"

"Unless the matter is dire, Superman's not budging from his wife's bedside and if it's so crucial that I am dragged away, then I'll hold off keeling over until the job is done." Closing his eyes, he fake yawned and mumbled indulgently "Goodnight sweetheart."

"Firstly, don't make jokes about keeling over or I'll get out of this bed and kick you in the shins and secondly, don't you say goodnight to me in that placating tone of voice, as if I'm to be humoured." Rattling their clasped hands when he didn't respond, she waited until he opened one eye and asked suspiciously "What's going on?"

Knowing that she wouldn't leave him be unless he answered, he looked at her steadily "I'm not ready to leave you yet ok?"

Never slow in understanding, she replied evenly "Clark, I had a perfectly normal delivery, no complications and now we have a beautiful little girl, so there's no reason for you to worry."

"I'm not worried now but I was this morning." Letting go of her hand, he sat up and exhaled heavily in fatigue "I knew that labour was going to be tough Babe but…and please don't say it was easy for me because it wasn't. Unless you're a sadist, there's nothing easy about cheering your wife on when she's shrieking in pain, yet that's the role I was forced to play." Stopping for a beat, he inhaled and capturing her scent, smiled crookedly when he recalled teasing her about packing perfume and makeup in her hospital bag. Now he was grateful that she'd done it and even more so that she'd put some on after her shower following Grace's birth. The antiseptic odour prevalent in all hospitals was still strong in his nostrils, but he could detect her perfume over it and felt oddly comforted.

"Hon, have you fallen asleep with your eyes open?" Lois questioned when he grew silent.

Slightly amused at the question, he let out a soft puff of laughter "No, I'm just thinking…." Taking up the conversation as if he hadn't grown silent for a good two minutes, Clark's lips twisted "It was bad enough when I discovered that you'd spent hours in labour with only Attila at your side, but it was ten times worse when we got here and rather than it all being over quickly, it just went on and on and when the baby still hadn't come hours later and you started crying from exhaustion…" Breaking off, he shrugged uncomfortably "I'd been warned to expect all sorts of things when you were in labour Lo, but I still felt like I'd been punched in the gut when you told me to leave you alone, and hearing you sob like that just ripped at my heart. Maybe I'll forget it sometime in the next millennium, but don't count on it."

Scrunching her brows together, Lois nodded slowly before asking conversationally "Interesting, do you want to know what my most vivid memory or being in labour is?"

Knowing that she was going to try and make him feel better, Clark drawled mockingly "Let me guess; me and all the wonderful encouragement that I gave you, which helped you to soldier on and get through it, right?"

"Nope, guess again."

"Haven't got a clue" He replied indifferently.

"It's you bellowing that if I didn't move my ass, you were going to super-kick it all the way to the medical centre" She divulged cheekily.

His eyes narrowed as he recalled what had provoked his outburst. However, having no intention of apologising just because their ordeal was over, and figuring that she didn't expect him to judging by the merriment on her face, he growled unamused "Well fuck babe, I come home expecting everything to be quiet, only to be greeted by Attila barking frantically while pulling and tugging at my cape, and when I zip through the house I find you down in the shower, which you refused to vacate even though you were clearly in labour."

"Well I saw no reason to rush since first births are known to be long" She replied peaceably.

Peeved, he asked caustically "Did I miss something; are you a doctor now?"

"Of course not but I can use Google just like anyone else, so I looked up heaps and heaps of information on the stages of labour and even called the doctor just in case, so I knew what I was doing." At his low growl, she smiled unrepentant "Honey, I would have called you when it was time, but I saw no reason to bother you until I absolutely had to."

"As far as I'm concerned, you absolutely had to the minute you were in labour!" He came back decisively and rolling right over her protests, forged ahead "I never would have been gone that long if I knew what was happening at home, but I stupidly thought you'd call me if you needed me. I need to have my head read for expecting something so deranged? Of course it never occurred to me that you'd choose to suffer needlessly for hours by yourself; who in their right mind would and…."

Resisting rolling her eyes, Lois simply nodded along to his rant but when he started questioning her intelligence, she cut in with a growl "Clark, do you know what I did while you were gone? I cooked dinner for you and Attila because I knew that I wouldn't be home tonight. I listened to music while finishing the curtains for the nursery, made a start on the slip covers for the lounge suite and I played cards. In short, I kept myself distracted. Now does any of that sound like I was suffering?" Seeing the disgruntled look on his face, she asked pointedly "Did it look like I was?" When his mouth opened, she held up a hand "I don't mean when you first found me in the shower, I'm talking about after the contraction was over?"

"Well you sure weren't suffering when you told me to buzz off after I suggested that you get out" He grunted peeved.

"The warm water beating on my lower back felt so wonderful, that I wasn't ready to abandon it" She explained apologetically "Besides, I did get out didn't I?"

"Yeah, after I picked you up and carried you out" He reminded her snippily.

Ignoring that, she sent him a kindly smile of gratitude "I appreciated you being so caring, that you even did my hair just because you knew it was important to me; thank you."

"Did your hair…" He muttered moodily "I only agreed to dry your hair to hurry you up, but a fat lot of good it did me, since you then nagged and fussed until I agreed to brush it."

"I was in labour, so I couldn't nag too much" She put in reasonably.

He made a rude noise but didn't bother to correct her and continued grimly "And then you made me waste even more time putting it up in a ponytail…"

"And you did an ok job too considering you've never done one before" She rushed in to praise generously.

Fixing his eyes on hers, he glared sternly "What the hell did it matter what your hair looked like I'd love to know?"

"Well using your super breath as a hairdryer was a good idea, but my hair was all tangled and snarled afterwards so it needed to be brushed…"

"Heaven help me" He simply rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"….and I didn't want to wear my hair down because I was already feeling quite hot, and just the thought of it sticking to my neck in the delivery room made me shudder, so I needed it up" She finished as if he hadn't spoken then added thoughtfully "I'm getting sick of having to fuss with it though and it's unlikely I'll have the time now that Gracie's here, so I'm considering taking the plunge and having Tina chop it all off at my next appointment; what'd you think?"

"No" He shot down without hesitation before pressing on sternly "And don't try to side-track me because it's not going to work." Getting to his feet, he leant forward to loom over her and continued unabated "So, I take the time to do your hair thinking that will get you to move but instead of shuffling your butt into the truck when I was finished, you then started giving me grief about Attila and didn't stop wailing your head off about the little shit, until I agreed to drop him at mom's house so he wouldn't be alone."

Wondering if she'd taken a misstep in trying to cheer him up by reminding him of their early morning misadventures, Lois cleared her throat noisily "Yes well…."

"SHIT!" Clark rubbed his eyes as the frustration she'd put him through earlier came back in one big rush "I couldn't believe it; there you were panting like a dog while huffing through every contraction, and it still wasn't enough to stop you from ordering me around like the infuriating little tyrant that you are."

"Um excuse me but I wasn't panting, I was doing my breathing exercises" She corrected haughtily while choosing to overlook the last part of his pronouncement, knowing that she was bossy and couldn't help it "Besides as we now know, the fact that I could still talk at all meant it wasn't time for Grace to pop out just yet, and since I knew you could fly me here in under a minute if necessary…."

"Oh yeah and how could I do that, when no one knows I'm Superman?" He broke in sarcastically.

"In a rural town that rolls up its sidewalks the minute the sun goes down, who's going to be around to notice if you zip us close to the entrance but out of sight of any observers that you can spot a mile away anyway?" She asked sensibly. Seeing the stumped expression on his face, she remarked innocently to no one in particular, "Some people really need to stop being so paranoid or they could give themselves an ulcer by worrying needlessly about…." Hearing the warning snarl rumbling in her husband's throat, she coughed gently and got back to the point "Anyway as for Attila, the poor little sweetie had stuck to me like a burr for hours and had been a real little trouper the whole time but he was starting to get a little frazzled, so it's lucky you came home when you did and the reason I had you take him to your mom's was so he wouldn't be left alone to fret himself to death…."

"You didn't seem to care if I fretted myself to death" He mumbled under his breath.

Giving his arm a pat, she finished triumphantly "And since Gracie wasn't born until quarter to 11 this morning, it proved that I was right and we did have plenty of time. So the upshot is that you had no reason to get all crotchety with me."

Placing his arms either side of her waist to cage her in, Clark leant down until they were nose to nose and announced baldly "I wasn't crotchety, I was scared shitless and if you hadn't been in labour, I would have paddled your backside for not calling me earlier and then for making me panic even more with all your nonsense."

Cupping his face in her hands, she pressed a kiss between his eyes "You're a wonderful husband; the best."

Giving up, he shook his head and whispered thickly "You're a despotic little kook; the worst."

"Aw…" Feeling absolutely cherished by the look in his eyes, she stared into his face with a fatuous expression on her own, completely lost for words.

"I really should beat you more often" He murmured almost to himself.

"You don't beat me at all" She reminded him serenely.

"Then I should start" He threatened absently. Feeling almost gooey by the dotingly half-witted look on her face that was all for him, he firmed his backbone and added resolutely "Since my tyrannical little crackpot is as necessary to my survival as the very air that I breathe, I'm staying right here beside her tonight and I'm not brooking any more arguments, clear!"

Bobbing her head obediently, Lois lifted her arms to encircle his neck and tugged him closer "Kiss me!" Pouching out her lips in expectation, she flicked one eye open when he didn't immediately do as requested and tacking on "please", pouched out her lips once more.

Grinning, he pressed smiling lips against hers in a series of short pecks, which became longer and deeper then relaxed back into one soft touch of mouths, then another and another before lips locked in a second lingering kiss that only broke when they were both breathless.

Brushing the hair back from her face, he waited until her eyes cleared before quirking one brow in query "By the way, did you say that you cooked dinner for Attila and me?"

"Uh huh, I didn't think it was fair to leave him out. So I made you a person casserole and him a doggie one" She replied cheerfully.

Since to his way of thinking it was only fair that the mutt should have to eat her cooking as well, Clark replied handsomely "Well you can be sure that I'll see he gets his, when I have mine."

oOo

_One Year Later_

Striding into the Watchtower, Clark pulled an envelope out of his cape pocket and waved it eagerly "Hey guys; guess what I've got?"

"No; not more photos" J'onn pleaded pitifully.

"Yep" He confirmed unperturbed.

As one, the men's heads drooped.

Paying them no mind, he announced delighted "Just wait until you see the pictures of my little Gracie. She's so darling that you just want to gobble her all up."

Turning to the others, Bart said cheerlessly "What's really sad is that once upon a time when he talked about gobbling up a female, his tone had a certain cachet of….debauchery but these days it's so sweet that it's sickening. Does anyone else remember the good old days?"

"I do, I also remember how inspirational it was listening to him make the most innocent situation, sound so utterly filthy" Victor recounted wistfully before letting out a disappointed sigh "He used to be my idol."

"He did have a special talent for making crud sound good didn't he?" Oliver asked with mock solemnity and at the nods, nodded sadly in return "Who can forget the days when he'd turn up here looking like something the cat dragged in and tell us all about some sexy babe he was romancing."

"Then share all the salacious details of what they got up to the night before" Bruce recalled nostalgically.

"How the mighty are fallen" AC summed up dismally.

Clark's face became wooden even as his eyes gleamed with amusement "I don't remember any of that."

Pretending he hadn't heard, Bart said aloud to no one in particular "It just breaks my heart what's become of him."

"It breaks mine what we have to put up with" Oliver exhaled heavily.

"We're being punished for sticking our noses in and helping him with Lois" Victor announced candidly "If we'd just minded our own business, he would have screwed up big time and now we wouldn't have to look at photos of his daughter's first smile…."

"Her first tooth" AC added gloomily.

"Her first haircut" Oliver tossed into the pot.

"The first time she waved" Bruce called next.

"The first time she crawled" J'onn stated blandly.

"The first time she…"

"These are photos of her first swimming lesson" Clark cut across Bart to announce proudly.

The men groaned in unison.

Knowing they were only joshing, he coaxed persuasively "She looks awful cute in her new bathing costume, aaaaand..." He drawled temptingly "I've even got a couple of photos of her wearing the little sunhat to match."

Wanting to both laugh and cry because Clark really did believe he was giving them a treat, the men shook their heads in dismay at their own weak wills. They knew that they were partially responsible for creating the monster he'd become, by expressing such bitter disappointment whenever he turned up with no pictures for them to see. They were their own worst enemies. They liked seeing his photos; especially after a particularly trying experience of dealing with the bad guys, when they were feeling weary in body or spirit. Those photos were a nice reminder that it was for innocents like Grace, for the unity of family and for those who couldn't defend themselves that each of them had taken on the mantle of super-hero and kept at in the face of all drawbacks.

Knowing how their minds worked since his was the same way, Clark inwardly snickered but outwardly grimaced in apology and declared aloud while solemnly crossing his heart "I'm sorry guys, I don't mean to bug you into looking at pictures of my little Gracie. I'll just tuck these away and won't bring anymore; promise."

"Don't you dare put those photos away" Bruce pointed threateningly.

"Come over here and give us a look at your princess" Oliver demanded at the same time.

Dashing forward, he squeezed in amongst them and began passing out the photos while explaining what was happening in each at the time.

"She's really starting to look like a little miniature girl version of you." AC smiled enchanted at the cute little darling sitting in the kiddie pool.

"Except for her smile, that's all Lois" Clark corrected while grinning proudly at the picture, which showed his baby girls one tooth before passing it on reluctantly.

"Who does she take after in temperament?" Oliver asked absently.

"Well she's patient, a little shy with strangers and is usually content to keep herself quietly occupied without needing much attention." He smiled highly amused "Except for the shy part I'm still like that, whereas Lois said she never had any of those traits, so me."

Coming to a photo of his wife looking particularly delicious, he licked his lips and began to tuck it away, but didn't get the chance before it was snatched up by Bart.

Gawking at the snap of Lois posing sexily and sleepy eyed while lying amongst rumpled bedcovers wearing nothing but his friend's cape, he whistled long and low "Woooaaahh!

"I know; it was her birthday present to me…." Clark began but at the appreciative smiles, growlingly amended "I don't mean the steamy photo, I mean the camera. With all the snaps I've been taking of Grace, Lois said it was time that I stopped using my phone and had a proper camera, so gave it to me for my birthday and that night we were sort of fooling around…."

"That's obvious" Victor couldn't help interjecting.

"I meant we were fooling around afterwards and when she wrapped herself in my cape, I grabbed my new camera and told her to pose, so she did" Making a little sound, Clark reached over to pluck it out of his friend's hand but didn't get the chance before it was snatched up by Oliver.

"Well I guess that I don't have to ask if marriage and a baby has cooled things down between the two of you" Bruce murmured absently while staring at the photo in Oliver's hand.

"No you don't but don't anyone mention that you've seen it to Lois. She told me to delete it from the memory but I just couldn't make myself."

"Don't blame you" They hummed in agreement.

"Yeah, besides I've stored the memory card safely at the fortress and this picture is for my private living quarters up here, so I figure what she doesn't know isn't going to hurt anyone…" He flashed out a smile and tacked on "anyone being me, if she ever finds out" before tweaking the snap from AC's fingers.

"Can we have another look?"

"No!"

"If I was you, I'd consider the photo the real present, not the camera" Victor commented blandly causing Clark to smile secretively. However, refusing to say why when prodded, he simply handed the last picture over and hearing the rumbles of laughter as each got a load of it, grinned in recollection of the moment his mom had snapped it. There he was, crouched behind his little girl with hands outstretched ready to catch her if she fell while crawling out of the kiddies pool. There was Lois kneeling in front and reaching forward while praising Gracie lavishly upon completion of her first swim and there was Attila, taking a flying leap into the pool from the side. A second later, Grace was swooped up in daddies arms giggling instead of howling in fright, Lois was drenched, his mom was cackling with laughter and he was chastising the dog, who was too busy rolling around in the water to pay him any mind.

"I seem to remember you saying that Attila gets along great with Grace" J'onn noted curiously.

"He's does" Clark confirmed readily "Lois thinks it because she's small like him. I think being the ornery little shit that he is, he deliberately went against normal Chihuahua behaviour and instead of being jealous, decided to adopt her instead. It's not unusual for us to find the two of them curled up together fast asleep on the play mat."

"Well his fondness for her, doesn't appear to have extended to giving up his pool without a fight" Bruce queried diverted.

"It's not even his pool, this is new one we bought that was big enough for me or Lois to sit in comfortably with Grace but Attila took one look, ditched his and appropriated it. However, he's been forced to share it with her because Gracie enjoyed her time in it so much, that every time we take her outside, she crawls over the lawn to get in." Pointing to the snap in Victor's hand, he explained "That was her first time in the water and we wouldn't let Attila get in because we were worried he'd accidently knock her over with all his rolling around, so he stalked off sulkily every time he tried to crawl in and Lois told him no."

"Well he's not crawling in this time, so he clearly got tired of being told no" Victor said straight faced. Taking another look at the picture, he sputtered out unsteadily "With the way he's diving into the pool with front and back paws outstretched, all you need to do is stick a cape on him and anyone would think he's mimicking Superman."

Holding up the photo upon demand, they all started howling at their own whit, when the lame super-dog jokes began flying around the room.

oOo

_Later That Night – Kent home _

Rolling over to snuggle into Clark but finding only cooling sheets and empty space, Lois deliberated for less than 5 seconds before climbing out of bed, pulled on the first thing to come to hand before leaving the master bedroom. Stepping soft footed past Attila, she bent down at the dog's low ruff and smoothed her hand over his back "everything's ok sweetie, you go back to sleep." Having gotten used to them wandering around at all hours of the night, the beast stamped his paws to re-fluff up his doggie bed and did as suggested.

Stopping outside the open door of the nursery, Lois looked in and shook her head unsurprised.

Once upon a time if she'd woken up to find herself alone in the middle of the night, she would have known Clark had left for a Superman call and either gone back to sleep or kept herself occupied while waiting for him to come home. These days she didn't assume anything, nor waste time listening to the baby monitor to confirm her suspicions, she simply checked the nursery and 7 times out of 10, found him there. This time was no different.

Leaning against the doorjamb listening to the one sided conversation, her lips curved.

He husband had never used baby talk when conversing with Grace. From the time she was first placed in his arms, her proud papa thought she was the most intelligent child ever born, and was convinced she could understand every word he uttered. He was happy just to chat away to his little darling and was more than gratified when her contribution to any discussion was a gurgled or drooled reply.

Shaking her head, she recalled all the discussions he'd had with Grace about farming. Rather than telling their little girl fairy-tales, he held intricate one way conversations on how his crops were behaving. Instead of reading her children's books, he read out articles from the newspaper or his agricultural magazines. He was proud of the farm; proud of what he'd achieved and wanted to share it all with his daughter. When Grace had only been a week old, he'd taken her on a tour of the land starting with the tool shed and greenhouse he'd built and ending with a firm lecture that she was not to go up to the loft because that was where he stored all poisons and sharp implements, blithely disregarding the fact that she couldn't even crawl much less walk.

She and Martha had chuckled more than once listening to him and had almost been beside themselves when he asked Grace's opinion on whether or not he should branch out and begin growing fruit, after explaining that since he owned two farms side by side one could be used solely to grow vegetables and the other fruit and what did his little angel think about daddy's idea.

Grace had waved her little hands in the air and Clark had taken that to mean she was in favour of his brilliant suggestion. He'd ordered the plumb, apricot and pear trees a week later.

Their little girl was definitely the apple of her daddy's eye and although it was lovely to see, there was a time and place for everything, and the only place where her daddy should be in the middle of the night, was asleep in bed with her mommy.

Hearing the little snores issuing from Grace and grateful their daughter was a heavy sleeper but nevertheless deciding it was time to retrieve her husband, Lois pushed away from the door intending to do so but stopped as the vision flashed through her head, winging her away from the here and now.

_Feeling strong masculine arms slipping around her waist, Lois smiled and leant back against her husband's chest._

"_This time tomorrow we'll have the house all to ourselves." Pressing his lips against the side of her throat, Clark whispered "How often has that happened in the last 20 years."_

"_The last time was when they all attended summer camp, but then they got too old for that and we had nowhere else to ship them off to" She murmured softly._

"_We did try but our friends were busy trying to get rid of their own kids, so wouldn't take ours" He chuckled lightly._

_Giggling, she turned around and slipped her arms over his shoulders "But this time tomorrow…"_

"_They'll have left for college and we'll be alone; yay" He cheered just loud enough for her to hear. _

_Grinning, Lois lifted up on tip toe and pressed her lips to his "What are we going to do in this big lonely house all by ourselves?"_

"_I'm sure we can think of something…." Licking his lips, he sent her a devilish grin "In fact, why wait until tomorrow; we can have ourselves a little preview right now."_

"_The kids are here" She reminded him mildly._

_As his smile kicked up at the corners, he drew her closer "They won't be here for long."_

"_How do you know?"_

"_Because they're busy primping, and I doubt they'd waste all that finery on us" He remarked blandly._

"_True…" She agreed and took a minute step closer "So, what did you have in mind?"_

"_Well it's a pretty hot night."_

"_Mmm."_

"_And it just happens to be raining."_

"_Yeah."_

"_Do you still have a fondness for kitchen floors by any chance?"_

_Not having any idea what he was alluding to she frowned puzzled but as the memory of that long ago day trickled back, she began to giggle and didn't stop until his mouth captured hers._

"_Ewww, aren't you two a little old for that?"_

_Breaking apart, they turned around and began to laugh at the grossed out looks on their children's faces.  
_

"_We're practicing for tomorrow when you lot are gone, and we're all alone" Clark told them audaciously._

"_Daddy, please don't put that picture in my head" Grace begged piteously but at the laughter of her parents, rolled her eyes to the ceiling "The two of you've have been married for long enough, isn't it about time you stopped all that?"_

"_I suppose that we could occupy ourselves watching TV; what'd you think honey?" She asked Clark genially._

"_We've lost the remote" He replied blandly._

"_What a shame; we've lost the remote" Knowing that as the oldest, Grace was considered the spokesperson of her siblings, Lois patted her daughter on the cheek while smiling sweetly at all three "I guess we'll just have to amuse ourselves another way."_

_Turning to the others, Grace heaved out a sigh "I'd really prefer not to think about it anymore." _

"_Me neither."_

"_Ditto."_

_Turning to smile at her father, she asked winsomely "Can we have some money daddy? We're going to the movies and then out for hamburgers after. It's our last hurrah before school starts tomorrow."_

"_If you're just going to the movies, what are you all done up for?" Clark asked bemused while tugging out his wallet._

"_Well you never know who could be there."_

"_Be where."_

"_At the movies" Smiling in thanks, she tucked the money away and after pressing kisses to their parent's cheeks, the three headed for the door but swung back at their dad's call._

"_If you need me just yell, I'll be there in a nano-second."_

"_Between the super powers we got from you and the self-defence courses that mom insisted we take, we'll be fine" Grace reassured but seeing the unyielding look on his face, promised faithfully "But we promise to call if we need you."_

"_What time will you be home?"_

"_No later than 10 mom, promise. Love you; bye." _

_Calling out farewells, Lois watched the kids scoot out the door before they could be stopped yet again, and turned to her husband with a mile wide grin "Now where were we?"_

"_If memory serves, we were discussing your fondness for kitchen floors" Taking her hand, he pressed a kiss atop the knuckles above her wedding band._

_Touched, she remarked softly "You've been doing that since the day you proposed."_

"_Well technically, I never actually proposed" He corrected smugly "If you'll just cast your mind back to that morning at the cabin, I withdrew my proposal. Then I told you that we were getting married, so there was no asking about it."_

"_Yes there was, you said the words; marry me" She simpered girlishly._

_He smirked rudely in return "Sure I did but my tone couched it as an order, not a plea."_

"_Arrogant oaf" She murmured tenderly._

"_But humble enough to admit that I said please when you told me to" He reminded her chivalrously._

"_How gentlemanly of you to remind me that I had to __**ask**__, to get that word out of you" Lois retorted dryly._

_Squeaking in surprise when he tossed her up in his arms and zoomed them to the bedroom, Lois grinned and bouncing on the mattress, asked gaily "What happened to the kitchen floor?"_

"_We'll save that for tomorrow as a private little celebration" He grinned and scooping her under him, gently swept the tip of his tongue over the lobe of her ear, causing her shiver in response. Giving a low laugh, he breathed "I love knowing that I still cause that reaction in you."_

"_Tease."_

"_Always!" _

_Sighing in pleasure at the delicious feeling of his weight on top of her, she asked huskily "We've been really lucky, haven't we?"_

"_We've worked hard to be this lucky babe" Lifting up on his elbows, he cupped her face in his palms "But it does help that after 25 years together, I still love you madly Mrs Kent."_

_Her smile bloomed even as she automatically corrected "Lane-Kent." Seeing the laughter spring up in his eyes, she growled mock threateningly "I'll get you to say it one day."_

"_Never!" Bending down until his nose was pressed against her, he growled playfully "Well, aren't you going to say that you still love me madly?"_

"_What will I get if I do?"_

"_I'll give you a hint." _

_Leaning down he murmured a suggestion, which caused her eyes to cross "I don't know if I was bendable enough for that when I was younger never mind now."_

"_Tempted to try?"_

"_Uh huh" Twinkling merrily, she grabbed hold of his shirt and ripping it open, yelled loudly "I still love you madly."_

_Laughing, Clark hooked his hand into the front of her blouse and returning the favour, tore it open. Whooping and hollering, the two rolled over the bed and tipped onto the floor in a tangle. Laughing, fighting to see who could get the other naked first, lips met fleetingly as teeth bit playfully while clothes were tugged and pulled…._

Pressing one hand against her lips to hold onto the moment, Lois sighed in disappointment when the vision winked away. 25 years; they'd been together 25 years and were still happy. Going by what she'd just witnessed, they were still also pretty frisky.

Of course it would have been nice and certainly helpful if she'd gotten that vision on the night she thought Clark was trying to give her the kiss off. At least then she wouldn't have taken Attila and run; she would have stuck around to make his life hell, for making her feel so shitty.

No, actually she was glad that she hadn't gotten it before now.

It meant more to her that she'd had the guts to take the plunge with him, without knowing what was waiting for her at the bottom, than if she'd jumped only because she'd known the outcome. But vision or no; it didn't mean that she was going to sit on her rump and just expect what she'd seen to come true. As Clark had said; they'd worked to be that lucky. Marriage took effort and a whole lot of commitment. There were no free rides. If they didn't put any effort in, what she'd seen would surely change, of that she was absolutely certain.

Dragging her eyes away from Clark's profile, she craned her neck to look at Grace and her eyes misted, causing her vision to blur. Their little girl wasn't going to be an only child, she was going to have siblings and from what she'd determined of their ages, they were going to come in fairly rapid succession which meant the next one was going to be conceived sometime soon.

Pressing a hand to her chest, Lois moved her eyes between man and baby and felt her heart bloom with gratitude and love. They were hers; hers to keep and hers to treasure. Listening to Clark's soft voice telling Grace all about crop prices, she felt a tickle of laughter in her throat and deciding that she'd dawdled long enough, stepped into the room and asked in hushed tones "Honey, what are you doing?"

oOo

Knowing that his wife was standing silently at the doorway, Clark staunchly reminded himself that as Grace was his daughter too, he was allowed to be in the nursery whenever he wanted, then guiltily tried to think up an excuse for why he was there. Discarding one reason after another, he mentally threw up his hands upon being asked "Honey, what are you doing?"

"Putting her back to sleep of course" He murmured defensively.

"She's asleep."

Shooting Lois a fleeting look full of reproach when she crouched beside the rocker, he muttered "Well sure she's asleep now because I helped, but she wasn't before."

"Did you wake her up?" Lois asked blandly.

Insulted, his mouth fell open "Of course not; she's the one who woke me up."

"Oh yes?"

Pretending not to hear the amusement in her tone, he tried to explain "I was sleeping like a baby…."

"I'm sure that someone was sleeping like a baby, but it wasn't you" She cut in cheekily.

Choosing to ignore her rude interruption, he continued snippily "…when I heard Gracie getting restless; so I just popped in here to check that she was alright."

"And then?" Lois encouraged helpfully.

"And then I wanted to hold her" He confessed sheepishly. Hearing the soft little snorts of the infant in his arms, he smile foolishly "I can't help myself babe. Ten months on and she's still a miracle to me."

Grateful their loud whispering hadn't disturbed her but not willing to push their luck any further, Lois advised softly "Well there are a lot of hours during the day and if want to spend every single one of them just looking at this miracle, then that's fine with me. Of course we'll probably starve to death if you don't do any work to bring home the bacon but that's ok, I'm not one to complain."

Suppressing a laugh at the absurdity of her claim, he shook his head sadly "That's my Lo; always so practical." Tearing his eyes away their baby girl, he looked at his wife and his eyes darkened even as the blood began to pound in his veins at how luscious she looked garbed in his shirt. Deciding that it was past time he took his daddy hat off and put his husband one on, he carefully got to his feet and after gently placing Grace in her crib, clasped Lois' hand in his to lead her back to their room.

Getting a pretty good idea that it wasn't sleep that her husband had in mind when they climbed back into bed, Lois struggled to think past the fuzziness his touch was causing, and grabbing onto his hand as it began exploring her more intimate topography, whispered his name shakily "Clark."

"Hmm."

"I need to tell you something."

"Tell me later" He mumbled tugging his hand free to slide it to the inside of her thigh, while pressing his lips to the slope of one breast.

"How do you feel about having three daughters?" She asked huskily.

At her words his head lifted swiftly, even as his heart leapt with delight "I'm going to have three little angels?"

Nodding, she smiled hugely at the dopy look on his face.

"When did you know?"

"Wellllll…." She drawled teasingly, but seeing the excited look on his face, was unable to keep him in suspense any longer and said "I found out about half an hour ago when I had a vision of us years from now…"

"How many years?"

"Going by what I saw, I'd say about 20."

"Wow, that's pretty cool" He remarked tickled then asked hopefully "Were we doing it?"

"Not quite but we were just about to" She replied unsteadily, while trying not laugh at his priorities.

"It's comforting to know that we're still randy in the future" He beamed pleased even as his mind began to tick over with the revelation she'd recently shared. They were going to have three daughters, which meant Lois was going to be pregnant again, which meant….gulping, he winced as the word labour, began to flash and sparkle in his mind's eye.

Oh god, **LABOUR!**

He could feel a headache coming on just thinking about it.

He could do it, he could but first he had to get ready for any and all contingencies. He needed to get his ass in gear, now; RIGHT NOW! He had to get things, lots of things because soon he was going to be dealing with rollercoaster mood swings, cravings, leg pains, back pains and the list just went on and on. The only thing he didn't need to get was condoms because hello, what was the point!

Wondering what was on his mind that had made his face go pale, Lois tapped him on the shoulder then blinked in surprise when he shot of the bed, and while hurriedly pulling his suit began launching one question after another in her direction, without giving her time to answer.

Grabbing onto the cape when he stopped beside the bed to press a kiss to her forehead in farewell, she tugged until he was sitting on the bed at her side and advised carefully "Clark honey, I'm not pregnant yet so you don't need to go out to buy me food that I may or may not crave when I am, and I'm not feeling moody or emotional so you don't need to look at me like I'm a live bomb or stock up on tissues just in case and no honey no, I really don't think we need to rush over to the closest Home Depot to buy bedroom furniture for the girls just yet…." especially when two of them haven't even been born, she added silently but finished tactfully aloud "….we'll worry about extension plans and giving them their own bedrooms when they're older, like say when they're 15 or so, alright?"

As the enormity of her last words sank in, his stomach flipped with panic and he repeated in a voice filled with dread "I'm going to have three little angels?"

"Uh huh and you'll be every bit as wonderful with three as you are with one, so don't go to pieces on me now" She chided gently.

Not listening, he tugged at the neckline of his suit and swallowed uneasily "When Mark said something about payback one day, I secretly laughed at him because the reason for his griping wasn't something I'd had a problem with since my teens but it's not so funny when the payback shoe's on the other foot, and I'm the one getting kicked by it."

"What on earth are you talking about?" She asked lost.

"Maybe someone thinks giving me all girls, is justice for all the fooling around that I indulged in before you." Looking up at the ceiling, he crossed his heart in a vow "If I knew that I was going to have three daughters of my own someday, I swear that I would have lived like a monk until the day I got married." Hearing a wobbly gulp, he looked at his wife and saw the laughter in her ryes but felt too rattled to care "Three girls are going to make me old before my time Lo."

Unable to resist, she joshed smartly "So, you finally understand how all those fathers must have felt when some despicable cad came along, and tried getting into the panties of their sweet virgin daughters."

Amused out of his anxiety, he let out a mocking bark of laughter and asked mystified "What planet do all these virgins live on? It sure as hell can't be earth because I've never met any of them."

"That's because their fathers were hiding them from men the likes of you" She returned unsteadily.

"I'll have you know that I never touched any virgins" He retorted emphatically but at her lifted brows, muttered balefully "You can't count that, I was one myself."

"Fine, fine…." Lois waved airily "….but if your conscience is clear then what are you worried about?"

"I'm worried because I don't want some philandering lech anywhere near my little girls, but what if…"

"You were a philandering lech."

"Right and having been one, I know how they think and how they operate and…" Seeing her mouth open, he rushed on "And you can't lump me in with those womanising slobs. Unlike them who are just in it for the good times, I only screwed around to kill some time while waiting for my true love to appear…" He narrowed his eyes and pointed accusingly "That's you; I was just waiting for you to come back to me but you took your own sweet time about it and..."

"What a load of hogwash! You weren't waiting for anyone and certainly not for me you liar!" She denounced without hesitation "You just enjoyed being a tomcat."

"That's all in the past and do you mind not talking like that, it's very unbecoming in a mother" He glowered ferociously.

Digging her teeth into her bottom lip to stop it from trembling, Lois waited a beat to ensure no laughter would carry in her voice, before saying penitently "Sorry sweetie pie but despite all my teasing about your being a womaniser in the past, I'm sure you remember that I once mentioned I've always had a thing for the bad boys…"

"Why do you think I'm so worried?" He interrupted unhappily "What if our girls get your terrible taste in men?"

"That doesn't say much for you" She murmured amused.

"Do you think I want my little darlings going out with a man like me?" He asked incredulous "Ha, ha, ha; NO!"

Holding back a cackle at his phoney laugh, Lois winked sassily "Well darling, not only do I find your rakish past extremely attractive but when our girls get a little older, it will also be exceptionally useful when the boys start sniffing around." His teeth showed in a snarl, causing her nod smugly in return "Mmm hmm; that's what I mean by useful. The naïve guy you used to be was so clueless, he wouldn't have recognised an out and out scoundrel if he tripped over one in the street, BUT the reformed sleazebag you are knows all the tricks having pulled them yourself, so can spot a louse without any effort, which is a very handy skill for a father with three daughters to have."

Chuffed at her praise of his abilities, he sat up confidently "You're right; I can recognise a dirt-bag with my eyes closed and if any of those rotters try their shabby tricks on my little girls, they'll answer to me and directly afterwards, to God!" At her proud beaming smile, he waved one hand bashfully "Aw shucks, it's nothing that I won't enjoy doing."

"That's my guy" Lois championed brightly.

"Thanks" Preening, he took the smacking kiss on his cheek as his due but before she could try and flatter him any further, he mock glowered "But as I just tried to point out, I was never a sleazebag."

"You just weren't all that particular" She put in straight faced.

"And just how particular were you?" He came back snottily.

"Not very; I married you didn't I" She returned challengingly then squealed with laughter when he wrestled her down onto the bed. At the cessation of their antics, Lois cleared her throat guiltily "I'm sorry for spilling the beans. I know you told me not to tell you about any visions I have that concern our future but…."

"I'm thrilled you told me" He interrupted enthusiastically "This isn't something we can accidently muck up; this is another miracle we're going to have."

"Yeah" Smiling in relief, she tugged on the cape at his neck "Now why don't you take of the suit and get back in bed; it's time to go to sleep."

"Sleep nothing; I wanna do our thing and I wanna do it a lot" Clark growled playfully and jumping off the bed, he spun out of the suit before snatching up the item sitting on the bedside table and leaping onto his wife. Enjoying her squeals, he rolled up onto his elbows and whispered tantalisingly "Get ready to be knocked up tonight sweetheart…" Holding up his hand to show her what he was holding, he grinned at her giggle "…that's right baby I've got your cell-phone, and I'm taking no prisoners when I throw it against the wall."

Chortling out a laugh of sheer happiness, Lois hooked her arms around his chest and hugged tight.

The End

oOo

Well there you go.

This particular Lois and Clark story is over, although with the little sneak peak of their future that you got, you can see that it's never actually over but I hope you all liked the way that it ended just the same.

Thank you for to all who have stuck it out to the end. All the support and encouragement I was given to keep this story going helped enormously during periods when I was so tired from work that I just couldn't make myself write on the weekends, or when I was suffering from writers block and wanted to give up. Knowing there were people who liked the story and wanted more, made me keep pushing myself to finish it.

Lastly, to anyone who has ever put up information on the internet for ignorant slobs like myself, thank you! The amount of research that I had to do to write this story was massive and covered everything from psychic phenomena, to farming in Kansas, to info about San Francisco, to funny stories from first time parents (yep Clark's stories to Lois about his friends came from one's I read online (the meteor freak part was of course added by yours truly but the priest part wasn't, LOL). Anyway, I really appreciate all the time that I managed to save, because of all the lovely people who have taken their time sharing information on the web.

Linda


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